Lean On Me
by cassie420
Summary: AU. Nathan Scott watched his life slip right out of hands, and now no one can seem to get through to him. That is, until a feisty blonde steps into the picture in an attempt to help him get his life back together. I own nothing. R & R.
1. Chapter 1

Had to write it out, it was eating my brain alive. Had to share it, because I wrote it out. Read and review.

* * *

"_Welcome back everybody, if you haven't been watching; you've been missing out on the best game so far this season."_

"_That's right, Mike. It's the battle at home right now for point guard Nathan Scott and his Clippers, who are currently down by 2 with 15 seconds left on the clock. Who's do you think will be taking this shot?"_

"_Easily, Scott. Del Negro loves giving him the last shot just as much as he loves taking it."_

"_Can't wait to see how this one plays out. Barnes inbounds the ball to Scott…"_

_Nathan glanced at up at the jumbotron, trying to ignore the close up of his face plastered on all sides of it, he checked the clock. 14.6 seconds. Looking back ahead of him, there were already two players charging at him. He passed the ball back to Barnes and made his way past the half court line, before retrieving the ball again. He glanced at the clock again. 10.2 seconds. Breathe Nate, watch his hands. He watched the right arm of the other player move in and dribbled the ball between his legs. That's it. He smiled to himself._

"_That's all you got, Scott? This shot's on you, don't choke now." Nathan heard the other player egg._

_He shook his head with a chuckle and gave a quick pass to Blake Griffin, before taking off to the corner of the three point line. He watched as the other teams defense moved completely inside as Blake drove for the hoop. 4 on 1? He'll pass it. He took a quick glance at his feet to make sure he was behind the line, and just as he thought, when he looked up, Blake faked a lay-up and passed it outside, right to him. Nathan felt immediate relief at how open his look was. He snatched the ball from the air and steadied his feet; he looked at the clock behind the basket, 2.8 seconds. He took a deep breath and saw the other team's center running towards him full speed. Now or never, he thought, jumping up and releasing his shot. _

_At about the same time the game clock went off, so did a whistle, as Nathan was hit by the much taller center and was sent flying back into seats and the crowd. _

"_IT'S IN! CLIPPERS WIN! CLIPPERS WIN! THEY'RE IN THE PLAYOFFS!"_

_Staples Center started to uproar as soon as the shot went in, but it almost died down just as quickly when they noticed the Clippers weren't celebrating. They were hovered over a group of knocked over chairs, where Nathan had landed moments before._

_The entire arena fell silent as the team dispersed so that the team doctor could get through. _

"_Looks like Nathan Scott is down, Mike."_

"_He definitely took a hard hit; I hope it's not too bad. The Clippers won't mean much in the playoffs without their leader Nathan Scott…"_

"I don't understand why you watch that crap."

Nathan sighed as he heard him step closer to him and turned off the TV. "It's not your place to understand."

"It is mine though." Nathan heard another voice from behind him.

Nathan shook his head. "You're fired."

Clay rolled his eyes. "Well, I un-fire myself."

Lucas shook his head as he walked into the living more, glancing at all the beer bottles on the table and the almost empty bottle of tequila in Nathan's hand. "This place is disgusting, Nate."

Nathan looked up at him and glared. "Then leave."

"Not gonna happen." Clay chimed, walking to stand in his eye-view.

Nathan sighed and ran his fingers through his long hair. "What do you guys want?"

Lucas shrugged. "We could start with a shower."

"Then we could work on getting you out of this crap." Clay kicked his wheelchair lightly.

"Clay, my career's over. This chair is the least of my problems."

"This chair is your problem." He countered. "And you need to be out of it."

"I don't care anymore."

"You need to care. Your contracts up Nate, you need to be healthy in 6 months or the Clippers are going to let you go."

Nate shook his head. "DO YOU NOT SEE THIS FUCKING WHEELCHAIR, CLAY!? MY CAREERS OVER!" He shouted, tossing the TV remote.

"You can heal in 6 months with physical therapy." He argued in a calm tone.

Nathan looked down. "Good thing I don't give a shit."

Clay sighed and rubbed his forehead, looking to Lucas.

"Can we have a minute alone?" Lucas asked. Clay nodded and made his way out.

Luke sighed and took a look around the big living room; it was a complete disaster in this house. He walked next to the wheelchair and kneeled down so that their faces were level. "Listen little brother, I know you're breaking yourself down as best you can and these words may not mean a thing, but this isn't over. You're Nathan Scott, sure future hall of famer; you got the best three point average in the league since 1984. If you're gonna let this stop you," He tapped the wheelchair, "No one can change your mind." He stood up again. "But know this, you had a choice. This was your decision." He stated as he walked out of the house.

Nathan looked up slowly when he heard the door shut and rubbed the tear from his eye. He looked back at the door to make sure he was gone, and then took another swig from the bottle in his firm grip. Who the hell did Luke think he was telling him what he was and wasn't capable of? He didn't have to sit in this chair all day. He didn't have to watch his team lose the championship because he wasn't there. He didn't watch everything he's ever worked for slip right from his hands in a matter of three seconds. No, Lucas Scott had no clue what he was going through, what he was dealing with. Even if he could stand up, even if he could get out there and play the game, he would have no one. He already let his team and his fans down when he couldn't be there for the finals. It was useless. The only thing that seemed logical to do at this point was sit in this chair, and drink from this bottle. And that's exactly what he did.

* * *

Lucas walked out of the house and shook his head at Clay, who was leaning against his car. "I don't know what to do."

Clay crossed his arms over his chest. "You think he could do it with physical therapy?"

Lucas walked next to him and leaned against the car as well. "I think that the Nathan Scott we knew three months ago could have, I'm not so sure about this one."

Clay nodded and uncrossed his arms. He unhooked his keys from his belt loop and unlocked his car as he walked over to it.

"Where are you going?" Lucas asked as he started to walk away.

"I have an idea, I'll call you later." He answered quickly, hoping into his Sting Ray and speeding out of the driveway.

Lucas put his hands up in confusion as he backed out but Clay was soon gone. He dropped his hands and they clapped at his sides as he turned back to look at the house. After thinking for all of five seconds, he decided going in there wouldn't be a good idea and got in his car and took off as well.

Clay sped through Nathan's Palos Verdes hills glancing at the time on the dash way more times than necessary. It was 4:30, he had 30 minutes to get to Manhattan Beach, which would be doable, but it would be cutting it close. Add traffic into that equation and the odds were against him. He pressed harder on the pedal as he got on the freeway off-ramp and prayed the cops were busy right now.

Clay tried not to gaze at the ocean as he drove down PCH, he sighed as he looked at the time again. _5:10, hopefully she's here. _He pulled into the parking lot next to the all too familiar glass building. It was just as huge and beautiful as it always was, the sun and reflection of the ocean projected off of the mirror windows on the outside, towering above all the other buildings and houses also along the water. It was by far the most beautiful place for someone to build a private hospital and healing center.

He couldn't suppress the smile the graced his features when he saw her red Cayman parked in its usual spot. Her spot. He parked his car next to hers, ignore the name on the sign of whoever the spot belonged too, getting out of his car he leaned up against hers and waited, he knew she wouldn't be long. She always worked the same hours.

Clay proved himself right when he saw the small woman come walking out of the glass doors. Her head was down and she was looking at her phone, while her other hand clutched a huge stack of papers. He smiled as he looked her up and down. She always looked elegant. She was wearing a knee high pinstriped skirt, and a sleeveless purple button up top. Her hair was still blonde and curly, but it was much shorter than before. Instead of being at the middle of her back, it was just past her shoulders. He watched her head start to lift and tried to plaster a smile on his face.

Haley stopped in her tracks when she lifted her head and saw him standing against her car. She saw that nervous smile on his face and knew whatever it was that brought him here, she had control of this situation and she tried to mask her shock as she continued her walk towards him.

"Hey Haley." He smiled as she got close enough to him.

She didn't say hi, just stared at him until she got to the hood of her car and placed her stuff on top of it. "What favor will I be doing for you today, Clay?"

He sighed and looked away from her. "It's not like that, Haley."

"Oh, so you're here just to chat? That might have been nice when mom and dad died, or I don't know maybe all the months after that, but right now it's really not welcomed." She faked a smile at him as she picked her stuff back up and walked towards her door.

He watched as she started throwing her stuff in the car, but instead of getting in, she slammed the door and walked back over to him. "You have nothing to say?" She asked in a testy voice as she approached his leaning figure.

He put his arms out and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I know I've been a really shitty brother, and I'm sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me, or even talk to me for that matter. I was in a dark place and I was selfish and mean and every day I wish I could take it back and be better, but I can't. I know it hurt and that you did it alone and I'm so sorry." He moved his hands from her shoulders to her face and wiped the tear as he lightly held her face. "It… It is a favor." He mumbled the last bit.

He listened to her sniff her nose and when she left out a soft laugh he dropped his hands from her face. "What do you need?" She asked, looking down.

"Haley, I mean everything I said I just really ne-"

"Just tell me what you need." She cut off, finally looking up to him. He saw the blank look behind her big brown eyes and wanted to steer this conversation back to where it should be, but Nathan really needed help right now.

"One of my clients got a really bad injury last season. He messed up his back really badly and now he's in a wheel chair. He's got six months to get up and going again and the doctor said it's possible but he has to want it." He explained as quickly as possible.

She shrugged. "There's a lot of people that can get him going in six months, Clay."

He shook his head. "Not Nathan Scott, he's in a bad place. He needs the best, Haley. That's you."

"Nathan Scott?"

He looked up to her. "Yes…"

"I'll do it." She answered quickly.

"What?" He looked at her in disbelief.

"I'll do it." She spoke again.

"That easy?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

She shrugged. "He's paying me; I don't care if you're my brother."

He smiled and nodded. "That's fine with me. I should warn you though… he's in a dark place right now. It's really bad, like his hygiene is non-existent and he drinks himself into a stupor all day."

She laughed a little and Clay raised a confused eyebrow. "He's watching his whole life disappear; I don't expect him to be singing from the rooftops." She patted his shoulder and started to way back to her driver's side door. "Just text me his address and I'll stop by there tomorrow. He's doesn't know what he's in for." She half joked as she got into her car.

He hopped off her hood and quickly ran to her now closed door and leaned on the open window. "Wait up," He pulled his phone out. "I don't… have your number." He finished slowly, he realized halfway through his sentence that he shouldn't have to ask this question. He should know his own sister's phone number.

She took it from him and punched the number in. "I'll call you in the morning and tell you how it goes."

He took his phone from her. "You don't want me to be there?" He didn't really like the idea of that.

She shook her head. "We need to be alone. I don't need any more walls up than I'm sure there already are."

Clay just sighed. He wanted to argue with her, but he knew he was teetering on the edge of her even doing this and decided against pushing his luck. He nodded. "Just be ready, he's really good at being an ass these days."

She seemingly blew off his comment as she placed her sunglasses on and turned her car on. "Text me." She stated, backing out of the spot quickly and taking off.

He waved bye to her and waited until she pulled out of the driveway before pulling his phone out and calling Lucas. He picked up quickly. "Hey man, okay so here's the deal…"

* * *

"Lucas, this is my sister, Dr. Haley James. Haley, this is Lucas Scott." Clay greeted as Haley walked up to them, they were currently standing in the drive way of Nathan Scott's obnoxiously big mansion. Haley shook his hand and matched his sincere smile. "Nice to meet you."

"You too. Thanks a lot for the help; I've heard a lot about you. You're like the sports miracle worker." Lucas admired, holding a key out to her. "That's the spare key."

She smiled and took it from him. "Thanks, where is he?"

"Probably asleep in the spare bedroom. It's downstairs, he doesn't go upstairs." He added for some clarification.

She nodded in understanding. "Alright, you guys get out of here. I'll keep in touch." She patted both of their shoulders as she moved them aside, walking in between them. She didn't look back to see their reaction as she made her way into the house.

"Oh, ew." She whined, looking around the house. The first thing you could see was the living room, which was surrounded in beer bottles, more than she'd ever imagined seeing. Walking closer she noticed all of the broken pictures and trophies that smelt of tequila spread out across the floor in front of a broken trophy case. She walked into the kitchen next and didn't have to see much more after that. Dishes were piled to the top of both sinks, as well as others along the counters. There were pizza boxes and more bottles of alcohol all over the island and floor. This place was absolutely disgusting, just as she had expected.

She made a quick walk out to her car and grabbed all of her bags from the store. A couple of bottles of cleaner, a mop, a broom, and dish soap, sponges, Clorox, ect; everything you would need to turn a place right side up. She placed everything on the kitchen floor, and then decided to see what else she was dealing with. As she walked up the stairs to his second story she felt a whole change in the atmosphere; maybe it was just the fact it didn't smell like spoiled eggs for once.

The entire second story of his house was spotless; almost as if he hadn't been up here since the day he got hurt. The thought alone broke Haley's heart, she couldn't imagine how hard it could be for someone to not be able to spend their nights in their bed, or even something little like walking up the steps. Things like that are why she chose this job in the first place, people deserved those simple pleasures, especially when they worked so hard for them.

Checking all the rooms she thanked God that the disaster, for the most part, seemed to be down stairs. She made her way back down to the first story and checked the clock. It was nine o'clock, and by the look of all the alcohol around this place, he wouldn't be up for a good couple hours. She walked around the rest of the first story, partly to scan the rest of the disaster, and partly to find the guest room Nate was in.

He was easier than expected to find seeing as there was only one closed door down stairs. Just to be sure, she turned the knob and slowly opened the door. She reminded herself to breathe when it didn't make a noise and peeked into the room. Nathan was lying on top of the covers, spread out across the bed. There was more beer bottles flung around the room and he even managed to have one clutched in his hand. His hair was long and greasy, and his facial hair was wirey and ragged. He was just as much of a mess as this house was. She quietly shut the door and made her way back to the living room, she had a lot to do before waking him up.

Haley cleaned the entire house until it was spotless, even the upstairs was mopped and dusted and it only took her a little over two hours. The only room left was the room Nathan was in, and for obvious reasons she couldn't get to that right now. She gathered all of her cleaning supplies and put them back in car, grabbing a bucket while she was there. She headed right towards the kitchen and cranked the cold water on high. She waited for a moment, letting it get as cold as it could, and then put the bucket under the flow, letting it fill.

She didn't bother with trying to be quiet this time as she flung the door open and it bounced off the door stopper, the sound of springs bouncing all the walls of the room. He didn't move a muscle. She shook her head and walked over to him. "Nathan?" She asked.

Nothing.

"Nathan!"

Nothing.

She sighed and dumped the bucket on his head, which caused him to shoot up immediately. "What the fuck!?" He yelled, looking down at his drenched self.

"Hi." Haley said with a smile, dropping the bucket to her side.

Nathan's head snapped to the female voice, he expected it to be Lucas or Clay. When he saw the blonde beauty standing on the side of his bed with a bucket in her hand and smile on her face his eyes got wide with anger. "Who the fuck are you?!"

Her smile and the confidence behind it never faded although his tone was dark and full of hate, and she stuck her hand out to him. "My name's Haley James, I'm Clay's sister. I'm a doctor and he asked me to help you rehab."

His glare only got stronger as her words came out and if looks could kill, she might have dropped dead. He scoffed at her hand and looked up to her. "I'm not a drug addict."

She smiled at him. "Good, because I don't really know much about that kind of rehab."

He looked her up and down. "You know I can't walk right? I don't care what you think you can do. My game's done; you're wasting your time."

She looked him up and down as well. "Is that what you think of yourself? That you're a waste of time?"

He shook his head. "Just a waste of your time."

She crossed one arm over her chest and use her other hand to tap her chin. "Right. Well, how about this…" She sighed when he continued to look away from her and poked his shoulder. He turned to look at her with that familiar glare. "Listen to me when I talk to you." He scoffed but didn't look away from her. "How about you get your sorry ass up and take a shower or a bath or whatever works for you, just demolish the smell." She looked up and down at the raggedy shirt and sweatpants he was wearing. "I'll get you some real clothes and leave them on the bed." She turned to walk out the door and spun back to him when she opened it. "And I'll decide what's best for my time from now on, got it?" She smiled and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Nathan blinked a few times at the closed door and then reached in his pocket, pulling out his phone. He quickly dialed the familiar number and by how quickly he answered, Nathan figured he was expecting the call.

"Lucas, why in the hell is there a hot chick walking around my house bossing me around!?"

* * *

Well, my roommate's made me watch Just Wright last night for the first time and this has been churning in my brain ever since, so I wrote it down. This won't be based off of the movie, it just gave me an idea. Hope you liked it, you know what to do. (:


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone, first let me say how absolutely flattered I am but the response I got in such short time and on only one chapter. I wasn't going to update so soon, but how could I not with all those responses? So, I'm putting Fleetwood Mac on Pandora and rolling a J and tackling this one for you guys immediately. See you at the bottom (:

* * *

Haley knocked lightly on the guest bedroom door, she didn't really want to be back so soon but she had to give him his clothes. She grabbed the first pair of boxers and socks she saw, and picked out a nice pair of jeans. She had spent a little time on picking his shirt before deciding the baby blue polo would do wonders for his eyes.

She heard a muffled come in and walked in to Nathan sitting on the edge of the bed pulling the shirt over his head. His back was to her and he didn't bother to turn around so she just placed the clothes on the bed and quickly made her exit.

"Haley," He called as she was walking out the door. She spun around slowly and this time he was turned to look at her. "Can…" He sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

She frowned and started to walk over to his side of the bed. "You need help?"

He let out a heavy breath and looked up to her, she could tell that it was taking everything in him to hold his pride together and knew she wouldn't get a straight answer. She grabbed his hand and looped his arm around her shoulder, letting her other hand hold his waist. "How often do you try walking?"

"I try to stand, but I never get that far." He said softly, shame in his tone.

She nodded and started to stand. "Come on."

She took her time and he was grateful, he was using all of his concentration on keeping his weight on his feet. If they were to give out right now, there was no way the tiny girl next to him would be able to hold them up.

"Nathan," He snapped out of his thought and looked to her. She was giving him a huge smile and he almost smiled back just from looking at it, before he caught himself. "You're standing." She squeezed his hip.

He scoffed and looked to his feet. He was almost standing straight up but he was also leaning immensely on her. "If you let go right now, I'd go tumbling."

"Maybe so, but I'm certainly not the only thing holding you up. Come on, walk." She started to move her foot forward but was halted by his form staying solid.

"No, just get me my chair." He pointed a little ways from the foot of the bed where it was.

She glanced at the chair and then back to him. "Walk, Nathan."

She felt his resistance when she took her step again but he still moved his leg. It should have taken 10 seconds to get to the guest bathroom, but it took 5 minutes. Nathan was extremely frustrated the entire time, but he still did it. When he got into the bathroom she put the lid down on the toilet and he sat there. She turned on the bath water and started to let it fill, and then went to get his clothes from the room. When she put them by the sink he saw her give him a look and before she could take the conversation there he put a hand up. "I got it from here."

"They're just pants, Nath-"

"Haley, I got it."

She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll be back in 30 minutes to check on you." She huffed slightly and walked out.

Nathan held back the smile until the door was closed; she was going to be something else. He looked down at his pants and the smile fell; this was going to be hell.

Just as she had said, Haley returned exactly 30 minutes later. With a swift knock on the door she was almost surprised how quickly he responded. When she opened the door he already had his jeans and socks on, and his hair was freshly wet. He did smell good for once though, which was nice. He started to pull his shirt over his head when she stopped him.

"You might want to wait for that." She put her hand on the shirt, lowering it.

He pulled the parts of his arms that were in it, out, and gave her a confused look. His eyes got wide when she held up the black object in her hand turned it on, a mischievous smile on her precious face. He was going to argue, but instead gave her a pleading look.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Oh please, you know as well as I do that it has to go. Lean over the tub."

He shook his head. "You know, I met you like a couple hours ago and you've already managed to take over my house, toss water on me, and make me shower. I think you could leave my hair alone. I get it, you're real nice for doing Clay this favor, but if I really could do anything about it you wouldn't be in the equation right now. So do us both a favor and only do what's necessary because we both know neither of us really want to be in this situation."

She turned the clippers off and placed them on the counter, and then leaned against the wall opposite from him.

He looked up to her when she was across from him with a glare. "You know, he's never even talked about you. I don't know why you help him; he doesn't even act like you exist."

He watched her eyes as his words processed. He immediately felt bad… somewhere in him, but mostly he just wanted her gone. He didn't want to or need to be dealing with this crap, he had enough problems. Plus, he'd be doing this chick a favor. The look in her eyes never changed, and she only stayed quiet long enough to make sure he was done talking.

"I don't do anything I don't want to do, Nathan. As for my relationship with Clay, it is none of your business. You are my client. Now, as for the hair, if you really want it, keep it. I could care less, but it's not you. If there's one thing I know, it's that if you look good you feel good. Now, you can say whatever you want, and try to put up every wall there is, but I know that you want to be back on that court." She slowly slid down the wall so that they were eye level. "And I can get you there."

He looked up to her and stared at her, but he never said anything. She patted his cheek lightly, "its okay, and I can keep a secret." She winked and stood, then began to walk out the door. She halted when she heard him clearly say her name, and when she turned around he was holding up the clippers. He shrugged as he extended them to her and she beamed a beautiful smile as she walked back towards him.

* * *

"Little brother?" Lucas called out as he walked into Nathan's house. He stopped as soon as he walked in and took his time to look around. Nathan's house hadn't been this clean since the person that lived her before him. It also didn't smell like ass – nice plus. Even if this was all Haley had accomplished, she had worked a miracle. He looked down the hallway and all the room doors were open and the lights were off, so he didn't bother checking there. He made his way towards the living room and into the kitchen and noticed that it was also spotless; not a dirty dish or pizza box in sight. There also didn't seem to be a drop of alcohol – nice touch. "Nathan!?"

"Out here!"

His head snapped to the glass doors to the back of the house and he quickly opened them. He couldn't help but smile when he saw Nathan. He looked like a brand new person. His head was a clean buzz cut and his sad excuse for facial hair was gone.

"What's up?" He asked, leaning on the wall of the pool.

"Why are you in the pool?"

He looked down in the water for a second, seemingly thinking of a proper answer. "Haley said it helps to practice my walking, you know the whole gravity thing." He moved his hands above the water.

Lucas chuckled and nodded, he moved to sit on the edge of one of the long chairs by the pool. "So how'd it go?"

"What? With Haley?" He began to walk on the side of the pool, using one hand to hold onto the wall.

Lucas nodded at him.

Nate shrugged. "She introduced herself by tossing water on me, and everything from then on was just an order."

"The house looks good."

He looked at him and smiled. "I wasn't complaining."

Lucas gave him a serious look. "Watch it little brother, this isn't some groupie. She's a good person."

Nathan rolled his eyes at him. "You think I don't know that?"

"I'm just making sure you do." He glanced at his watch. "Come on, get out of there. Game starts at 8, let's drink a beer and watch it."

"As nice as that sounds," Nate pulled himself up out of the water and sat on the edge of the pool, with just his legs dangling in. "Haley threw out every drop of alcohol in this house – Even my mouthwash."

Lucas laughed as he pulled his wheelchair up to him and helped him in it. "Gatorade it is."

He started to wheel himself in the house before Lucas could get the chance to help him. "Yeah, sounds good. I'm just gonna go change."

"Yeah, alright." Lucas watched him go down the hallway and waited until the door shut before pulling his phone out and scrolling for Clay's number.

"Hey Luke." He answered almost immediately.

"Your sister works miracles."

He gave an amused chuckle. "She's good at what she does."

"Well I knew that but this is crazy, the house it spotless, you can see Nathan's ears and he sort of smiled."

"Whoa."

"Exactly, but look I'm gonna go he should come back any second. Just thought you should know how awesome your sister did." Before Clay could reply he heard the dial-tone in his ear. He reluctantly pulled the phone away from his ear, but quickly dialed a new number and returned the phone.

"This is new." He rolled his eyes at her sly tone.

"Hey Little Sis."

"What do I owe this honor?"

"Haley… Can you just like, give me a break?"

She scoffed and even though he couldn't see her, he figured she was rolling her eyes as well. "Tell me what you want Clay."

"I just wanted to thank you… I just talked to Lucas and he said Nate's already doing well and it's all because of you."

Haley let her smile show this time; he wasn't there to see it. "I can't take credit, it's all him."

"That's sweet, Haley, really. Nice and humble. You got something against hearing you're the best?"

"No, Clay. I'm just not the one that needs words of encouragement right now."

He let out a loud sigh; it was like talking to a wall. A contradicting wall.

"I just wanted to say thank you."

"Thank me when I'm done." She pulled the phone away from her ear and hit the red end button with way more force than it needed. She hated being mean to him, he was still her little brother. But he couldn't just simply be forgiven, he abandoned her when she needed him most and after that she no longer had any desire to have him in her life. He didn't care, therefore neither did she.

Truth of the matter, this was not about Clay. It was about Nathan Scott. This was not a favor to Clay; it was a favor to Nathan, and maybe even herself. The fact that Clay was his agent was just a negative in the situation, but not a deal breaker. Haley knew how important this is and she would do anything in her power to get Nathan Scott back on that court.

* * *

Haley slammed on her breaks as she pulled into her parking spot and jammed in her car into park. She buttoned the three buttons on her tiny black vest that was pulled over her white top and checked her make up in the mirror. She made her way up into the huge building as quickly as possible and ran to catch the open elevator. She quickly went through her phone as it ascended and hit the number she was looking for.

"Hey, can you meet me in my office right now? It's really important… Alright, thanks." She hung the phone up and the elevator stopped on the fourth floor, a couple people got out but it was mostly packed still and she had to make it to the top floor. This was going to take forever.

Just as she suspected, Quinn was already in her office when she got there and she gave her a pout when she saw her leaning against her desk with her arms crossed.

"What'd you call me from down the street? You know my office is two doors down, right?"

Haley smiled and shook her head; she walked over to place the stuff on her desk. "I managed to get into the most demanding elevator of the day; we stopped six times." She plumped down in her desk chair and Quinn sat across from her.

"Rough life," She joked. "So what's going on?"

"I need you to go see a client for me today."

Quinn sat up more in her seat. "Alright, can I ask why?"

Haley nodded as she spoke; she was flipping through a stack of papers on her desk. "My brother is a sports agent-"

"You have a brother?" Quinn cut off.

Haley looked back up to her. "Yes." After answering she went back to the papers. "One o-"

"Why did I not know that?" Quinn cut off again.

Haley sighed and looked up again. "We're not close. This is about the client."

Quinn rolled her eyes, but let it go. She would get to the bottom of this later. "Ok, I'm listening."

"One of his clients, Nathan Scott," She pulled out the file and handed it to her, "injured his back. It was sort of a last minute thing and I totally forgot I had to wrap up my sessions with Michael today."

She looked up to Quinn who simply nodded to her.

"Alright, the address is on there." She put the key on the desk. "That's the key if he doesn't answer the door, but knock first; I really irked him the last time. And you won't need to be there long, just make sure he and the house is clean, and that he's not drinking. Do some leg exercises with him, or whatever you think he needs. And if he asks tell him I'll see him first thing tomorrow."

Quinn closed the file after gazing at it and shrugged, "Sounds easy enough."

Haley finally sighed in relief. "Thanks Quinny."

Quinn smiled at her as she got ready to leave. "Anything for you, partner." She shouted over her shoulder as she walked out of Haley's office.

Haley took a second to lay her head back and rub her eyes; she really needed to compose herself. After giving herself a couple seconds she went right back into 6th gear, grabbing Michael's paperwork off her desk and bolting out of her office.

Quinn wasn't surprised when Haley's parking spot next to hers was empty when she got down to her car. She hadn't taken long to get her stuff and get out of the office, but Haley had a habit of getting ahead of herself and moving at a million miles a minute. She got into her car and punched the address into her GPS.

"Holy crap." Quinn mumbled to herself as she pulled into the long drive way. This house was freaking huge. Sure, Quinn was no stranger to money or nice thing; owning your own hospital basically made it so you could have what you pleased. Still, something about this house managed to take your breath away. Maybe it was the view? The house was up high on a hill, but there was still a sand trail all the way down to the water.

After parking her car, she took a little time to gawk before putting on her professional face and gathering her stuff. When she got out of her car, she put her paperwork and purse on the hood of her car and used her window to adjust her dress and fix her hair. When she was satisfied to pick her stuff back up and made her way towards the house._ Geese, even the doors to this place are huge. _She took a breath and knocked on the door.

Quinn stood there for awhile as she tapped her foot; he was taking quite awhile to come to the door. She thought about using the key, but remembering he was in a wheel chair, she decided to give him a little longer.

She was relieved when she saw the figure coming towards her through patterned glass, and put her best smile on her face. Too bad the smile didn't last long with the look he was giving her.

"Who are you?" He spat as soon as he opened the door. Haley was already thirty minutes late and that had pissed him off enough, now there was someone here trying to waste his time?

She looked down at him, he was in his wheelchair, but other than that he looked perfectly fine. His clothes seemed fresh and he had definitely showered. He was actually a very good looking guy. She put the smile back on her face and extended her hand towards him. "I'm Quinn, Haley sent me to takeover-"

"Where's Haley?" He cut her off. He ignored her hand as he glared at her.

She reluctantly dropped her hand and didn't bother trying to hold a smile anymore. "She had another client-"

"So what? She just sends you to do the dirty work?"

Quinn looked at him in disbelief. _Why was he such an asshole? _ "No, she just couldn't-"

"What? Deal with me? Well fuck her and you!" He nearly yelled.

She watched as he wheeled back just enough to slam the door in her face. She watched the door for a little, trying to process what the hell just happened. The only thing she managed to figure out was that she had no clue. She did know one thing though, she wasn't welcome and unlike Haley she didn't waste her time trying to help people that didn't want to help themselves. So, she dialed Haley's number as she made her way back to her car.

* * *

Haley took a deep breath as she parked her car into Nathan's drive way the next morning; she was trying dearly to control the boiling anger within her. She was absolutely livid when she had heard Quinn's voicemail after dinner with Michael's family. She almost took off directly to Nathan's house and gave him her piece of mind, before deciding she had to actually talk to Quinn about this. After talking to Quinn, she was only more pissed. She could have killed him for treating her best friend and partner like that. For his sake, she decided to sleep it off. It didn't help with the anger; she was still fuming, but it did give her some time to think and before going off on him she had to find out what the hell was wrong with him this time.

She took her time getting out of her car, but wasted none barging into his house. She was immediately stopped in her tracks; the house was absolutely trashed, and smelled horribly of whiskey. The floor had broken glass on it, from what she figured was bottles of alcohol and there was a few pizza boxes, and even some slices themselves spewed all over the floor. It was almost as if he trashed it on purpose.

She looked up form examining the floor and immediately saw him. He was laid out on the couch with a bottle of tequila spilled next to him. From where his wheelchair was placed, it looked like he had flung himself there. The table in front of him was covered in more broken bottles, but it was mostly beer this time.

She sighed and ran her hands through her hair; she was no longer mad, now she just felt bad again. That was always her biggest problem; sympathy. Well, that and confusion. How had he even got to the store to get this crap? She had searched this house up and down to make sure every drop of alcohol was gone; he couldn't have got it from here.

She couldn't help but jump a little when she heard another man groan, she walked a little closer and looked to the couch opposite of the one Nathan was laying on. Sure enough, there was another man passed out on it. He his face was hidden by his arm, but he had shaggy brown hair hanging off his head. He was also clutching a beer in his hand, and by the way his legs were hanging off the couch they were definitely in use. A light bulb seemed to ignite in her head at that and her previous question was answered.

She grabbed the beer bottle from the man's hands and kicked the couch he was laying on. The sudden movement caused him to shoot up and when his arm moved from his face she recognized him immediately.

Damien West. He and Nathan had both went into the NBA in the 2004 draft. Nathan was number two, he was number six. He had only been in the NBA for a year when he crashed his Corvette into a SUV with a family in it while driving drunk, and needless to say his career was over after that. Nathan, on the other hand, had managed to keep a fairly nice image through his eight years of playing. If she wasn't already convinced, that had convinced her furthermore that Damien was definitely the problem right now.

"Who the fuck are you?" He growled as he clutched his head.

She startled him when she broke the beer bottle on the ground next to him. She hadn't noticed, but she woke Nathan up as well.

"Your worst nightmare, now get the fuck out!" She screamed at him as she leaned over him, pointing towards the door.

"Chill bitch." He mumbled as he rolled off the couch. She watched as the man grabbed his wallet off the table and quickly scurried away from her.

"Come back and the cops will remove you!" She yelled at his figure as he took off out the door.

She took a few ragged breaths as she dragged both her fingers through her hair. She was trying to think of any techniques she knew for calming down when his voice snapped her out of thought.

"Why are you here?" She barely heard in a low voice.

She took a breath but held it in as she turned to him.

Nathan instantly regretted speaking when he saw the fire in her eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"What the hell is your problem!?" She finally let out, flailing her arms in the air.

* * *

Hope you liked it guys. Review (:


	3. Chapter 3

What is up people? If no one has told you lately that you're awesome, allow me to do so. I've got my cat giving me the death look right now because I'm choosing writing over petting her lol. Hope you enjoy. See you at the bottom.

BoSox- I'm glad you like her, she's fun to write (:

* * *

"What the hell is your problem!?" She finally let out, flailing her arms in the air.

Nathan swallowed his immediate regret of speaking but was immediately taken aback by something else fighting his force. Before he had time to react to the sudden hallow feeling in his stomach followed by the pressure of his overly moist cheeks he was spewing vomit across his glass coffee table that lay next to him; an obvious reaction to his bodies hate for the poison he overly injects into it on a daily basis.

"Shit." Haley grunted as she ran as quickly as she could to a closet down the hallway with towels in it. She grabbed the first one she saw and returned to Nathan immediately. He wasn't throwing up anymore, but his body was hanging off the side of the couch and he was still dry heaving.

She kneeled down next to him, making sure to avoid the vomit, and wiped his mouth and chin clean; he had managed to miss all of clothing thank god. After cleaning him off she grabbed another towel and wet it with cold water; she took a seat on the couch he was laying on and gently started to wipe his hot forehead with the cloth.

She jumped a little when she heard his voice, because his eyes never opened. "I'm sorry." He mumbled, obviously still very drunk.

"It's okay, Nathan." She blew it off, continuing to run the cloth over each of his cheeks.

He took her off guard again when he very gently grabbed her arm as she went to pull it away from his face. "Please don't leave again." He drunkenly mumbled.

Haley smelt the mixture of liquor and throw up on his breath and had to immediately turn her head away. "I'm not, get some rest and I'll see you in a few hours; It's still early."

She went to stand when she felt his arm on her waist and she reluctantly stayed rooted in her spot. "You'll be here when I wake up?"

"Yes." She moved his arm and stood up. "Just sleep here, I'll get a blanket."

By the time Haley had returned with a blanket Nathan was already back to sleep, snoring like a freight train. She pulled his legs back onto the couch so that he was lying down completely and covered him up.

Haley shook her head as she turned around; pulling her short blonde locks up into a bun. Once again she was going to have to scrub this place from the floor to the ceiling. She let out a grunt when she turned to the vomit on the table, she really didn't sign up for this shit.

"Nat-" Clay stopped his call as he walked in the door when he saw Haley on all fours scrubbing the ground. He raised an eyebrow as she blew him off. "What are you doing?"

She rolled her eyes as she flipped her head up. "Cleaning."

He gave her a hopeless look. "Your job is not to clean."

She sat up on her knees. "Now, I may be taking this wrong because I'm really not in the mood right now, but if you're about to tell me how to do my job; stop while you're ahead."

He smiled as he started to roll the sleeves up on his button up. "What happened?"

She sighed and went back to scrubbing. "He decided to have a little party after freaking out on my partner. I haven't been able to talk to a sober him yet so I really don't know though." She pointed over to his sleeping form on the couch.

Clay nodded as he looked around the house. Based on what he knew about Nathan Scott and drinking, Haley had made a lot of progress on the cleaning. The floor was spotless and the whole living room had been thoroughly cleaned. The kitchen was the only place that needed tending with the dishes and dirty counters with pizza and nacho fry scrapings tossed about. If you wouldn't have known what a drunken Nathan was like, you would assume there was a food fight in here.

He glanced at his sister, who had already forgotten he was here and was back in full force of her cleaning mission. He looked at Nathan next, but could only stand it for a minute. It really was a heartbreaking sight; his client and best friend in complete disarray in front of God and everybody. The four time NBA finals champion; the rookie of the year; the three-time MVP; Nathan motherfucking Scott.

What was he now?

Nothing.

He shook his head, denying his own thoughts and approached the dish-piled sink and cranked the hot water on high. If there's one thing he and Haley still had in common it's that messes just don't fly.

* * *

Haley gave a wholehearted laugh as she took a bite of her pizza. "There was nothing worse than your jean-shorts phase."

Clay scoffed as he took a bite as well. "I made those things look great."

He smiled when Haley rolled her eyes; it had been a long time since they had simply sat back and had a laugh with each other. They had finished cleaning in record time; four hands seemed to work better than two. With Nathan still out like a light, Clay suggested pizza for lunch. Ever since then they had been sprawled out on the hardwood floor a little ways away from the kitchen, eating their pizza and chatting away.

"Plus, they weren't nearly as bad as the Destiny's Child phase you had."

Haley's mouth dropped open in mock shock. "Dude, Survivor was like the best album ever."

Clay gave her an unconvinced look. "If I had to hear your acoustic version of Bootylicious one more time my ears might have fallen off."

She immediately reached over and punched him in the arm. "You always told me it was good."

He gave a fake pout as he overly dramatically clutched his arm and she smiled at him shaking her head. It stayed comfortably silent for a little as they ate some more before Clay interrupted again. "Haley," She turned to look at him. "Every song you sing is good." He gave her a genuine smile.

Haley smiled her identical smile. "Th-"

"Clay?" They heard a groggily voice from somewhere else in the room.

Clay jumped to his feet and saw Nathan fling his feet over the couch as though they were dead weight and nurse his head in his hands.

Nathan groaned as he rubbed his eyes; the action sending an instant migraine to his already suffering head. He had been woken from his sleep to what he thought was Clay, and was a little taken off guard as he slowly lifted his head. His house was clean and he had no idea how. All he had remembered was trying to trash what Haley had once made beautiful and now you would never know.

His migraine only seemed to grow as he tried to figure out what was real and what wasn't. Had he dreamed trashing the place and Haley giving up on him? By some miracle had all that not happened and it was still two days earlier and he had completely destroyed his chances at anything?

As much as he wanted to believe it, he knew that wasn't true. He could feel it in his gut and in his soul; the pain from her just sending someone else to work with him, after feeding him all her crock of shit about how she wanted to help him. He didn't really understand why it felt like his heart actually broke when the girl had said she had other clients and wouldn't be seeing him. He felt like an absolute fool for believing he was something special, someone she really believed in. He wasn't any of that, though, he wasn't even her client. He was her brother's client and he shouldn't have believed for a second she actually cared about his well being.

"Hey Nate." Clay pulled him from his thoughts as he walked over to sit on the other couch.

Nathan couldn't hide the flabbergasted look on his face when he looked up and saw Haley with Clay. Maybe it had all been a dream? There was no other way she could have been here. "Haley?"

She looked at Nathan as she sat next to Clay and raised her hand slightly. "Present."

He tried to roll his eyes at her but his migraine put that thought out of commission and with the pressure building again he lowered his head back into his hands.

"Had a real rough one huh?" Haley added in a sly tone.

He growled as he ran his fingers over his buzz cut head. "Why are you even here? Don't you have real clients or something?"

Haley cocked her head in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Clay leaned in, equally curious.

"You know exactly what the fuck I'm talking about!" He roared, lifting his gaze to her.

Clay stood up defensively. "Hey watch the tone, Nate. You're talking to my sister."

Haley stood up as well and patted his chest. "Thank you, but I need a moment alone with him."

"Haley-"

"Clay, what'd I say about my job?"

He tried to give her a pleading look but when she didn't budge he let out a frustrated sigh. "Call me soon."

She nodded as she watched him walk out of the house. "Thanks for helping me clean!"

Nathan had to fight his internal groan becoming vocal as he heard those words. He definitely knew what was real and what wasn't now.

Instead of returning to her seat, Haley walked to the coffee table in front of Nathan and sat on it. "No yelling, ok?"

He gave her an apologetic look and nodded his head.

"So, what makes you think you're not my real client?"

He sighed and lowered his head. All of a sudden talking about this wasn't something he wanted to do; it seemed a lot simpler when he could just yell.

Haley saw him pulling his walls up and snapped her fingers in his face, drawing his attention again. "Don't shut me out."

He looked at her for a moment, studying both of her eyes one by one. He had never noticed how absolutely beautiful and open they were. That was the first time he ever noticed that eyes really did say a lot about a person's soul, or at least a lot about hers. He took a deep breath before giving in. "Your colleague said you had another client and that she was going to work with me." He looked down in shame. "But you said you wanted to help me, you said that I could do it, and that you believed in me, and for some odd reason I thought you cared. "

"Nath-"She was going to start correcting him, but he just continued to talk as though he had to get it all out before he exploded. She immediately shut her mouth, taking advantage of any sincere moment she could get with him.

"It's crazy though, I mean, you shouldn't care. I've known you like two days, but I believed you. I don't know why but I believed someone for once and it was you and then I saw her and I knew you lied and I just… I felt like an idiot." He finally finished, taking a huge breath to steady his tears. It was pathetic, he opened up about one little thing and every emotion he's been holding in just breaks right through the barrier, all at once. As if he didn't feel weak enough.

Haley studied him for a second after he finished, prepared to let him cry if that's what he had to do. He seemed to pull it together after a moment, though, so she continued the conversation. "It was only for the day."

Nathan's head snapped up. "What?"

"My partner, Quinn, the girl you told to fuck off," Nathan grimaced at the memory. "It was just for that day." She continued. "I have been working with this ten year old boy named Michael for two years, and we had our final session as well as dinner with his family. So, I asked Quinn to come here and check up on you."

Nathan cursed himself as he closed his eyes and lowered his head. There wasn't much in the world worse than this feeling.

"She would have been happy to tell you that if she had five seconds." Haley attempted to joke, nudging his arm.

Nathan looked up again, obviously confused. "You're not mad?"

She smiled at him. "No, I'm mad, but its ok, Nathan. People make mistakes all the time and you're just as much a person as anybody else. You are going to apologize to Quinn, though. Other than that, how about we just let it go? I'm sure I'll spend a whole lot of time mad at you anyways, so there's no need to hold up on this one."

Nathan couldn't fight the genuine smile at the honesty in her words; they would definitely drive each other nuts. "I will." He confirmed.

Haley crinkled her eyebrows at him.

"Apologize to Quinn." He finished.

She gave him a soft smile, both at his agreement and how well he seemed to let the subject go. She got stopped from falling into thought when she saw him pull his wheelchair closer to the corner of her eye. She moved her knees out of the way so he had an easier path and he made an effortless move from his spot on the couch to the chair.

"I'm going to go clean up." He stated as he made his way out of the room.

"Ok, I'll leave some clothes for you on the bed." She responded as she took off up the stairs.

* * *

Haley stayed to make Nathan dinner. It wasn't something she normally did for her clients, but he was a big guy and God only knows how long it had been since the last time he had a real meal. So, she couldn't help herself. After getting a little carried away at the store she ended up with couple pieces of chicken, some potatoes and a vegetable mix. After fixing it up and getting good responses from him on her many tastes tests she finally got around to serving him.

As soon as Nathan started to devour his food, there was a swift knock at his door. Haley, who was already standing, went to open it to a smiling Lucas. "Hey Haley, where's my little brother?"

"Hey Lucas, he's eating in the dining room. You hungry?" She asked as they started to walk in opposite directions; he towards the dining room and she towards the kitchen.

"Yeah sure, thanks Haley." He smiled at her before he disappeared behind the corner.

She quickly fixed him a plate as well and brought to him, and then quickly left, giving them their privacy.

"How's it going little brother?" Lucas asked as he cut up his chicken.

"Witty wood." He mumbled as he put all his attention on his food.

Lucas laughed as he took a bite, but quickly wiped the smile off his face. He started to chew and his eyes got wide as he looked at Nathan. "Holy crap this is delicious."

Nathan gave him an obvious look before returning to his food.

Lucas continued to eat, trying to figure out where to start the conversation.

"Can I ask you a question?" He finally croaked out, no confidence in his tone.

Nathan looked at him and for once finished chewing before he spoke. "Yeah."

"When's the last time you thought about dad?"

Nathan continued to stare at him for a moment, but instead of speaking he shrugged at went back to eating.

"He's up for parole." He spit out.

Nathan immediately started to choke on his food. He took a drink of water and a breath before speaking again. "What did you say?"

"Parole." He annunciated.

"How?"

"I guess since him killing me was an attempt instead of a success they find it more socially acceptable."

"But he was doing 12 years, Luke."

"Good behavior." He sighed.

Nathan crinkled his eyebrows together and shook his head. This really was a messed up situation, Dan deserved to rot in hell for what he did; or tried to do. Since when does something like a good attitude make everything else he did ok? He was broken out of thought and hit with a state of shock at Lucas' next words.

"They want me to go to his meeting and testify against him."

Nathan just stared at him; he had absolutely no idea what to say right now. He knew Luke was strong, and a little person like Dan Scott could never bring him down, but that didn't mean he should have to face him. He should never have to be put within 500 miles of Dan Scott, no one should be.

"Are you going to?" Nathan asked cautiously.

He shrugged. "I don't know. They want me at San Quentin tomorrow."

Nathan ran his hand over the top of his head and down his face. "Wow."

"I was… uh…"

Nathan turned his head to him. "What?"

Lucas sighed. "I was wondering if… if you'd go with me."

Nathan did a double take. "What?"

Lucas chuckled and shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

"Luke… I would, but I mean… what would Dan do if he saw me in a wheel chair? I just… I can't face him. You-"

Lucas cut off his irrelevant rambling; he was silly to think Nathan would take a second to worry about something other than Nathan. He should have known better. "Its fine, little brother. I have to get out of here; I told Brooke I'd be at her place by 7. I'll talk to you tomorrow, alright?" He didn't wait for a response as he stood and immediately took off out of the house

Nathan sighed as he quickly took off, not bothering to say anything in response; he knew he wasn't listening. He had every right to treat Nathan like the ass he was, even Nathan knew that.

Haley took a breath when she heard the door shut with a little more force than was necessary. She really hadn't meant to eavesdrop on the whole thing, but she had and she had no good excuse. She did know she had to do something though.

* * *

Haley quickly hid the crutches on the side of Nathan's house, before grabbing his big beach bag and slinging it over her shoulder. She didn't bother knocking; he knew she would be here at ten. She tried masking her surprised expression with pride as she noticed that the house was perfectly clean and Nathan was showered and looked decent sitting on the couch watching TV.

He turned to her and smiled. "Hey."

"Hey." She walked over and took a seat on the couch across from him. She slung the bag from her shoulder to the table and put it down lightly.

Nathan raised an eyebrow and the many different rattles and clanks that came from the bag. "What ya got?" He asked, turning his attention away from the TV.

"I want to try something, you okay with that?"

He nodded and turned off the TV, giving her his full attention.

He watched as she looked in her bag and pulled out an empty mayonnaise jar. He raised an eyebrow and rested his chin in his palm.

Next she pulled out four packets of golf balls, one by one; she opened them and placed them in the jar until it was full. After throwing the extras back in her beach bag she tightened the lid on the jar and lifted it to Nathan.

"Is this jar full?"

Nathan smiled. "Yes it is."

She nodded and placed it back on the table. She opened the lid and reached in her bag, pulling out a box of pebbles; they vaguely resembled the red and blue ones in his fish tank. He watched amused as she poured the box of pebbles in the jar. After emptying the box she put the lid on the jar and shook it again so that all of the pebbles fell in the open spaces between the balls. She held it up again.

"Is it full now?"

Nathan crinkled his eyebrows and nodded his head.

She smiled at the fact she finally had him thinking and placed the jar back down. She opened the lid and reached in her bag, pulling out a jar of sand.

Nathan smiled and turned his head away for a moment, knowing where she was going with this.

She opened the jar of sand and poured it in the jar, effectively filling up all of the open spaces. Nathan laughed and she smiled at him. She closed the lid again and shook the jar, making sure to fill it completely, and then placed it back on the table.

"Now," She pushed the jar towards him. "I want you to think of that as your life."

He looked at the jar and then her. "The demonstration or the mayonnaise?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "The mayonnaise."

He leaned back, obviously confused, and crossed his arms over his chest. This had to be interesting.

"The golf balls are the important things in your life – your passions, your **family**," Nathan caught that immediately and his head snapped up, "your health, your friends." She continued. "If everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full." He sighed in understanding and leaned back forward, his head in his hands.

"The pebbles are the little things that matter – like your house, or your job, or your car." She explained. "And the sand's just everything else, the small stuff."

She stayed silent for a moment so Nathan looked up to her to let her know he was still listening.

"If you put the sand in the jar first," She started to clarify. "There's no room for the golf balls and the pebbles. Same goes for life. If you only focus on the little things, you never have room for the things that are important in life. Family and friends – your golf balls, you have to take care of those things first. The rest is just sand." She finally finished.

Nathan looked into her eyes. "You heard mine and Lucas' conversation?"

She nodded. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I promise, but it just kind of happened."

"It's cool, but Haley, you really don't understand what you're talking about. You don't know my dad."

She shrugged. "I don't know your brother either but I know it took everything in him to come here and ask for your help and you probably broke his heart."

He sighed. "I want to be there for him, he's always been there for me, but look at me. I'm pathetic. I can't even stand, no one is going to take me seriously."

Haley rolled her eyes as she stood from the couch and only vaguely heard Nathan shouting after her as she went out the door. She quickly went to the side of the house and grabbed the crutches and walked back in his front door with one in each hand; a huge smile on her face. "Oh look," She half-joked, "you're out of excuses."

* * *

Well, there it was. Hope you guys like it. Review and talk to me and stuff. Have a good day (:


	4. Chapter 4

Hey people, I hope life's treating you well. I'm sorry the update took awhile; I can't tell you how many times I've sat down to start writing and something's came up to get me right back on my feet and running around again. But all of my roommates are in full health and most are at work today so I've got my relax time and hopefully I can wrap this up for you guys. Hope you enjoy and review.

* * *

"Ok," Nathan sighed as he plopped onto the wooden bench, "fuck those things." The smack of the crutches on the wooden floor seemed to startle everyone in the hallways outside of the court rooms but Lucas who quietly slumped down next to him.

Haley heard the thud and quickly turned around from where she was standing. "Hey, can I call you back in a little bit?... Yes, I understand… Yes, I kn- Look, I have to call you back." She let out a frustrated sigh as she tapped the end button on her phone and tossed it back in her purse.

"What happened?" Haley asked as she approached them.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to feel my arms for a week." Nathan whined.

Haley met his gaze and gave him a testy look that had him biting his tongue. "Lucas, what happened?"

"They're discussing a decision now." Luke mumbled as he continued to stare at the floor.

Haley watched him for a second before looking back to Nathan. "I'm gonna go get us coffee." Nathan looked up to her and she pointed to Lucas. "Talk to him." She mouthed before walking away.

Nathan rolled his eyes as he watched her walk away and then turned to Luke. The smug smile quickly faltered at the sight of his brother in such distress. There weren't many times that Nathan has seen Luke truly scared – only two actually, three now. All of them seemed to involve Dan Scott though, that much was inevitable.

"Listen big brother, no matter what happens in there-"

"You don't have to say it, Nate." He quickly cut off.

Nathan sighed. "Just let me get this out."

He waited for a response but Luke just continued to look at the floor so he took his opportunity.

"He won't come near you, or us. We're always going to be safe. He can't hurt us anymore."

Luke let out a sarcastic laugh and turned his face to Nathan. "Actually, he can…" He shook his head as he looked back to the floor. "That's not what I'm bothered by though."

Nathan knitted his eyebrows together. "What then?"

Lucas continued to shake his head but no words came from his mouth as his stare at the floor hardened.

Nathan leaned closer to him when he saw a tear stream down his cheek and noticed that he was shaking. "Lucas… what?" He put his hand softly on his back.

At the contact of Nathan's touch Lucas jumped up from the bench. "He deserves to fucking rot in there forever! He's the scum of the earth! How could they even consider letting him free?!" He shouted at Nathan with his arms in the air.

Nathan tried to stand but with his arms already tired there was no way his legs were going to be able to do it on their own. "Luke… sit back down, man." He glanced both ways down the hallway and inwardly groaned at all the attention they had attracted.

"I gotta get out of here." He muttered. Before Nathan even had time to process the words he was running through the hallway and down the stairs.

"Lu-LUKE!" Nathan watched him take off running and glanced down at his crutches before sitting back on the bench. "Fuck." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Where's Luke?" Haley glanced around as she approached Nathan. She had her purse hanging on her elbow and three coffee cups balanced in between her hands.

Nathan quickly grabbed two of the cups from her hands and dropped one in the trash next to him. "That's quite the balancing act you had going there."

"I waited through college." She stated as she sat next to him. "Where's Luke?"

"You worked your way through medical school?" Nathan turned to her, obvious shock on his face.

Haley scoffed and looked him up and down. "Why is that so shocking?"

Nathan shrugged. "I thought your family had money."

Haley raised an eyebrow and let out an unconvinced laugh. "Why?"

"Well, Clay didn't have to work through college."

"Oh," Haley dragged. "He had other people to help with that."

"You didn't?" He quipped.

She shook her head. "We all make choices, seriously though where's Luke?"

"Oh," Nathan mocked. He took a sip of his coffee before answering. "He left."

"What?" Haley's head snapped to him. "Is he okay?"

Nathan turned to her as well. "Yeah, he'll be fine."

"What about your guy's dad?"

"I'll just stay to see what happens then I'll let him know." He answered simply.

"Alright." Haley shrugged. She sat back against the bench next to him and sipped her coffee.

Nathan let it be quiet for awhile as they took turns sipping their coffees, taking in the time to realize that at least it wasn't awkward. That's one reason why Nathan couldn't stand being around people; he hated talking and everyone is always awkward when it's quiet. Not Haley though, he doesn't have to worry if he's being judged or if she's uncomfortable when it's quiet. He knows that she's just giving him his space; it's a nice quality in a person. But no matter how nice the silence was, talking to Haley always seemed a little nicer.

"Thanks."

Haley turned her head to him quickly, not too sure if she had heard him right. When she saw the faint smile turning up on the corner of his mouth she had to bite on her bottom lip to keep from smiling back. She slowly turned back forward and took another sip of her coffee.

"You're welcome."

Both of their heads snapped up when the door closest to the bench they were sitting on swung open and a skinny man in a brown suit stepped out. "Nathan… we're ready."

"Ok." He turned to pick up his crutches but Haley was already standing in front of him holding them. She patiently helped him up and waited until he was balanced to let him go.

"Is Lucas not coming?" The man asked once Nathan was situated.

"No. Something came up. Let's get this over with." He mumbled quickly as he made his way passed him. "I'll try and be quick Haley."

"I'll be here." She assured before the door closed. Letting out a sigh she returned to her spot on the wooden bench. Buying the free time she had, she pulled her phone back out and prepared herself.

* * *

Haley let out a relaxing breath when she opened the front door to her house. She may have slept their every night, but it seemed like between the hours of eight and eleven she wasn't getting much of a chance to enjoy her home and she missed it dearly. She put her keys back in her purse and made a beeline for the kitchen. As soon as she walked into the kitchen she was stopped in her tracks.

"What the…" Feeling her heart start to hammer, she placed her hand over it. She glanced down at the sink again to make sure she wasn't seeing things and sure enough, it was still empty. Her dishes from breakfast had been washed.

The panic only rose within when she heard a familiar sound coming from a room down the hall. She almost stopped her freak out trying to pinpoint where she had heard the melody before, but quickly snapped out of her thoughts when she realized some random was in her house cleaning her dishes and playing her piano. She set her purse on the counter and pulled her heels off, placing them down quietly. Yanking a drawer open, she grabbed the biggest knife she saw and slowly made her way out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

Haley continued to listen to the playing as she stalked down the hallway with her knife firmly in her grip. She could feel her heart ready to leap out of her chest at any second, with every instinct telling her to run. That wasn't an option though, she had made a deal with herself a long time ago that she wouldn't run from fear. She wasn't about to start in her own house. When she got to the door she heard a voice finally pick up on the strum of the keys and she let out her first real breath. Of course she knew this song.

"_You said your life couldn't get much better than where's it's at. Yeah, well aren't you glad?"_

Haley shook her head as she took her first steps into her music room. Just as she thought, there he was hanging over her piano with his sleeves rolled up and his tie hanging loose, a cigarette hanging from his lips as he moved them.

"_The only one of 5, exception."_

She sighed as she started to approach him and placed the knife down on a side table. She was sure her presence was known by the way his ears perked up but his attention to the piano stayed apparent.

"_The child of your pride, deception."_

He glanced at her when she took a seat next to him on the bench, but he continued to play. She watched as he took another hit from the stick in his mouth and blew it out of the open corner of his lips.

"_And on your list of things to do, is make me fall in love with you. You find one, you want one. Cus I'm one…" _He looked at her and wiggled his eyebrows as he started to smack the keys. "WHO PLAYS ONE, YEAHHHHH!"

Haley started to laugh and slapped his hands away from the keys. "That wasn't cheap, you know."

He rolled his eyes and hit the cigarette again, and then ashed it on top of the piano. Haley's eyes grew wide as she watched him and she reached to grab it from him, but he quickly retracted and stood, holding it above his head. "Hey now!"

She grunted and glared at him. "I can't believe you're even smoking cigarettes in my house. How did you even get in my house!?"

He laughed at the testy look on her face and sat back down next to her. "First; it's not a cigarette. And two; in the plant, Haley? You're just like mom."

She rolled her eyes and decided to ignore his last comment. "Are you smoking marijuana in my house?"

Clay hit the joint again and winked at her.

"I'm gonna kill you."

"Relax, Doc. Take a hit, help me finish the song."

Haley gave him an unconvinced look. "Aren't you worried about losing your job or something?"

Clay laughed and put an arm around her. "I swear you were born in the wrong decade."

Haley scoffed and elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "I'm just sensible."

He mocked her look. "You're something."

She elbowed him again and this time he dropped his arm. "So, what's got you at my house at twelve at night singing dad's old songs?"

He shrugged and glanced down at the keys, lightly running his fingers over them. "I came to see how everything went with Nathan and then I saw the piano and it was the first song that came to mind."

She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder. "I used to not even be able to sit here without playing it at least once."

He sighed as he played a couple keys. "So, how did things go?"

"As good as they can. He's got a long time before he'll be walking and probably a good while before the crutches, but he toughed it out today."

Clay smiled. "I meant with Dan, sis."

"Oh, yeah. No parole for him."

Clay sighed in relief and rested his head on hers. "Were Luke and Nate happy?"

"Nate was ecstatic. If his legs worked he probably would have skipped out of that court room."

"Luke wasn't happy?" He lifted his head to look at her.

Haley kept her head on his shoulder. "He left before we found out."

"What? Why?"

Haley lifted her head when she felt his shock and looked to him. "I don't know. He and Nate were talking and I went to get coffee, when I came back Nathan said he left, but he was fine."

"And you just believed him?"

Haley crinkled her eyebrows together. "Why wouldn't I?"

He shrugged. "Nate's been good at being an ass lately."

Haley shook her head. "He knew how important this was, he wouldn't have done anything rash."

Clay turned his body towards her and looked her up and down slowly. When he met her eyes he chuckled and turned back towards the piano.

"What?" Haley spat.

"Just been a long time since I've seen someone believe in Nate."

Haley played a couple of keys on the piano. "Well maybe that's what he needs."

Clay smirked. "Maybe." He dragged his palms up and down his thighs. "So, guess what I found at the store?"

Haley continued to play. "What?"

"Caramel Coconut Cookie ice cream." Haley's head snapped up to him. "Limited edition." He winked.

"I haven't had that stuff in years!"

"Yeah, that's the limited edition part."

She hit him in the arm. "You're not funny."

He chuckled and stood up, holding a hand out to her. "Come on, little sis. Let's grub down."

Haley rolled her eyes and walked ahead of him out of the room. "You know, I'm actually the older one."

Clay smiled and widened his stride to catch up to her. "I know, but you're little." He teased, resting his arm on top of her head.

* * *

"Nate?" Luke called out as he peeked his head through the front.

"Hey! In the kitchen!"

Lucas shut the door softly and quickly strode through the living room. "I brought you some…" Lucas turned the corner to the kitchen and saw Haley and Nathan sitting next to each other on the island. She was eating waffles and he was eating pancakes. "Pancakes." He breathed

"I've been waiting for you to call me back."

Lucas glanced at him for a second before setting the bag on the counter.

"I'm just gonna leave you guys alone." Haley said softly as she wiped her mouth with her napkin and threw it in her Styrofoam box, snapping the lid shut.

"Uh huh." Lucas and Nathan prodded in unison.

Haley stood and glanced at both of them. "Watch your back." She teased, wiggling a finger at both of them before turning to walk out of the room.

Nathan smiled and shook his head as he took another bite of his pancakes. "I was kinda worried."

The smile wiped off Lucas' face as he turned to look at him. "Sorry."

Nathan shrugged. "Guess I've done worse."

Lucas smiled. "Are you going to make me ask?"

Nathan grinned and took another bite.

"Well with that smile I don't even have to ask." Lucas laughed.

"You should have seen the look on his face when they told him he wasn't eligible. He looked like he got hit with a mack truck." Nathan shook his head and chuckled. Seeing Dan go to jail the first time was definitely nice, but something about this was more satisfying. There was no hope in his eyes this time.

"He should get hit with a mack truck." Lucas sighed.

Nathan nodded and took another bite of his food.

Lucas watched him for a second, and then glanced at his bag of food and shook his head. "So she's bringing you breakfast now?"

Nathan darted his eyes up to him. "She doesn't trust I'll eat healthy and full meals on my own."

Lucas threw his hands up in mock surrender. "I was just observing."

Nathan rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his food.

Lucas walked over to the cabinet and grabbed a mug from it, immediately filling it with coffee. He added two scoops of sugar and stirred it well before talking a seat at the island next to his brother. "So how are you feeling about the crutches?"

He grabbed a piece of bacon from his box and took a bite. "I don't think I'm ready for all that yet."

Lucas nodded and sipped his coffee. "At least you know if you need to, you can pull it off for awhile."

Nate shrugged and closed his box. He grabbed Haley's and placed it on top of his before putting them both back in the plastic to-go bag and tying a knot at the top.

Lucas turned his head to him once he was done. "Hey."

Nathan sighed and reluctantly looked over to him.

"You can do this."

Nathan nodded sheepishly. "Will you put that in the trash for me?"

Lucas nodded and grabbed the bag by the knot, lifting the lid on the trashcan next to him, he dropped it in. "You know if it's Haley, we can find you someone else. I know it might be weird working with Clay's sister and everything, we just didn't know…" Lucas stopped himself before he said the rest of his words, realizing they might hurt a little.

"Know what?" Nathan asked quickly, snapping his head to him.

Lucas gave him a pleading look but the cold stare in Nathan's eyes told him he wasn't going to get anywhere. "We didn't know what else to do." He shrugged shyly, turning his body away from him.

Nathan clenched his jaw and blew out a breath through his nose. He knew he wasn't going to like that answer. Thinking about all the stress he put on people was not one of his favorite past times, and thinking about that fact Haley's only here because she has to be definitely didn't help him to feel better. There was one thing he was sure of though. "I want Haley, not anyone else."

Lucas nodded and patted his back. "Good, because she's the only one that's willing to put up with you."

Nathan smiled and shook his head.

"Alright well I gotta get to work, I'll stop by later tonight though." Lucas leaned over the counter from his seat and placed his mug in the deep sink.

"How's the team doing?"

Lucas shrugged. "You remember how we were in high school?"

Nathan winced.

"Worse."

"You know, you got your education to be an English teacher, not coach a bunch of brats."

Lucas sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Don't I know it?"

"You should just quit, you can find a job somewhere far better, doing what you wasted your time in college for."

Lucas laughed and put a hand on his shoulder. "You can't always take the easy way out, little brother." He got up and started to walk towards the front door.

"Don't I know it?!" Nathan shouted before he heard the door close.

It wasn't more than a few seconds later that Haley was descending the stairs with two full gym bags in her arms. "What're you doing?" Nathan asked as he pulled his wheelchair closer to him. He locked both wheels before using the arm rests to balance himself as he got up him the bar chair at the island and plopped into his wheelchair.

Haley dropped the bags on the couch in the living room. "I figured since you're not going to be up there I should bring some of your stuff down."

Nathan wheeled over to the couch that she had sat down on next to his bags. "Thanks, Hales."

Haley looked up to him and raised an eyebrow. "Hales?"

"Never heard that before?"

She shook her head.

"Good." He smirked.

Haley smiled at him. "I guess I've had worse."

"What's worse?"

"Well, in high school I was 'Tutor Girl'."

Nathan laughed and Haley returned with a glare. "That doesn't surprise me one bit."

"Did you ever have a nickname?"

Nathan chuckled at the memory and nodded his head. "Boytoy."

Haley raised her other eyebrow as well and beamed her teeth at him. "And why was that?" She asked with her tongue in her cheek, brown eyes twinkling.

Nathan matched her smile and leaned forward. "Now why would I tell you when you're already using that imagination, Tutor Girl?" He winked.

Haley blushed and turned away from him, rolling her eyes. "I should have never told you that nickname."

"Don't worry," Nathan leaned back, "I like Hales more."

Haley glanced at his dirty smirk and knew that the flirting had gone a little too far. It wasn't the first time Nathan had made his 'cute' remarks at her and usually she could play off them well, it was just their banter, nothing more than a joke. Something was different right now though. His smirk was cocky as always, but genuine. She was having a conversation with the real Nathan right now, someone she was growing to like a lot as a person. And before she knew it they were flirting, it was almost as if it was out of her control. At first, at least, but not anymore.

"Alright so," Haley grabbed a bag and placed it in his lap, "make sure all those clothes are ok, and if you need anything else I'll go get it."

Nathan zipped it open and started going through the stack of shirts. "Can I ask you a question?"

Haley leaned back against the couch and nodded.

He looked up from the bag and into her eyes. "What's the deal with you and Clay?"

Haley ran her eyes up and down him and then looked forward. "You don't want to know."

"Well, I'm just wondering why you're helping me if you hate him."

Haley's wide eyes immediately looked back to him. "I don't hate my brother."

Nathan crinkled his eyebrows together. "It seems like you do." He retorted.

Haley shook her head once as their eyes stayed locked. "I don't hate him. I don't respect some of the choices he's made, but I don't hate him."

"Then why weren't you in each other's lives?"

Haley sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Nathan…"

"I just don't understand. The guy has been my best friend and agent since college and he's never talked about his sister or family and then you just show up to help him."

Haley continued to rub her head as her eyes were closed. She really didn't want to have this conversation with him, but she really didn't want to have the Clay talk with him so she had to make her choices. "It's not about him."

Nathan watched her and stayed silent. After a minute curiosity seemed to get the best of her, because she opened her eyes and turned to meet his. "What's it about?" He finally asked.

Haley sat up and dropped her hand from her fast. "My dad was a huge Clippers fan. I mean, truly dedicated since he was about five years old." Nathan smiled at her and nodded. "In 2004 he was diagnosed with brain cancer and given 8 weeks to live."

Nathan's smile quickly fell and his eyes softened. "I'm sorry."

Haley gave him a soft smile. "It's fine. So, on week two, my mom and I were in the hospital with him and we were watching the draft on his TV. I remember the clippers hadn't won a championship in like 20 years or something crazy."

Nathan nodded. "23."

"Right, and I'll never forget when they called your name and you came up to hold up the jersey to take a picture, he called me over and pointed at you and said 'he's going to change everything' and you did. You brought them to the championship your rookie year."

Haley smiled at him and he smiled back. "My dad made it until two weeks after the season ended."

Nathan's smile fell as his jaw clenched and he felt his eyes start to swell up.

Haley laughed softly and turned away from him. "This might sound crazy, but I think I'd do anything for you."

* * *

Well, there it was. I am soooooo sorry this took so long. Never again I promise. I hope it was worth the wait for you guys. Happy frHIGHday! ;)


	5. Chapter 5

"You alright?" Clay asked after he glanced over to his passenger seat. Nathan was wringing his hands together as he lost his gaze out the window, showing him in obvious thought, but the lip pulled in between his teeth showed the nervousness behind those thoughts. Nathan didn't look over to him like he was expecting, making Clay think that maybe he was paying more attention than he thought.

He released his lip and soothed it over with the tip of his tongue. "I'm good."

Clay nodded as he continued to watch the road. "We're almost there."

Nathan sighed. "I know." Did Clay forget he used to go to here every day?

Clay strummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he bit his tongue. He knew it wasn't the smartest thing to say, but he wanted to get rid of the rare, awkward atmosphere around them. It would make it a lot easier if Nathan didn't keep all his feelings bottled up, letting them eat him alive as he blocks out the world. Didn't he realize that's what friends were for? Clay didn't know who he was trying to fool; acting like nothing was wrong. A blind man could see how broken Nate was.

"So, when did you plan on telling me you had a sister?"

Clay was brought out of his thoughts and had to go over the words to make sure he had heard him right. _Just great;_ this is a conversation he really didn't want to have right now. "It's just never came up." He replied with a shrug.

Nathan's head snapped to him in disbelief. "You never brought it up." He retorted quickly.

Clay sighed heavily as the traffic on the freeway surrounding them halted and they were once again sitting still. He ignored Nathan's comment as he looked over his steering wheel and down the road, trying to see where the traffic ended.

"Unbelievable." Nate muttered as he sat back in his seat. What in the hell was up with these two? They both knew every bad habit and embarrassing trait about him, and they couldn't even explain their stupid family drama to help him understand? It was like being surrounded by strangers; and they wonder why he's always in a bad mood.

Clay let the awkward silence engulf them for a few minutes, sending a silent thank you to the man upstairs when the traffic started to move at a steady pace. He sighed after glancing at Nathan, who was once again lost in thought as he starred out the window, only this time it was much more evident that his focus wasn't on anything going on outside of them. "I don't want you to feel betrayed Nate; I'm not keeping secrets from you or anything like that."

"You're not?" He retorted with a raised eyebrow. It wasn't much of a question, there was obviously things being hidden. The more it was hidden, the bigger it seemed to be, and Nathan was starting to wonder if it was even worth his energy. The wheelchair he's stuck in is enough drama in his life for now.

"No," Clay responded honestly. "But I think that out of respect for Haley, I have to leave this subject for her to discuss if she wants to."

Nathan rolled his eyes, feeling every bit of Clay's low blow. Clay knew he wouldn't push something if it meant disrespecting Haley, or worse, hurting her. Not with everything she has and is doing for him, especially today. Without her today wouldn't be possible, and even if it was possible, he wouldn't get passed this point without her. "Because you care about Haley." Nathan bit back.

Clay tightened his hand around the steering wheel as he started to pull off the freeway, he was lucky it was his best friend sitting next to him and not some stranger, because he would have decked him immediately. He was so sick and tired of people telling him that he didn't care about his sister just because of choices he made in the past. Why did things always have to link together in other people's eyes? Just because he removed himself from his family didn't mean he didn't care about them. If anything, it was the exact opposite. Ignoring the sarcasm in Nate's tone, he nodded his head. "More than anything."

Nathan scoffed as he turned to look back at the road. He was impossible and this wasn't worth his energy anymore. "Why did I have to come to this again? They said they needed to talk to my doctor."

"Haley thought it was better that they saw you as well."

"But they don't want to see me."

Clay shrugged. "They get to anyways."

"Just seems kind of pointless." Nathan added with a shrug as he relaxed.

"Nathan, they're trying to find a way to end your contract, that's why they want to talk to Haley. They want to hear her say you won't be healthy in time so they can save money."

"I know that Clay, but it's not true, and we have Haley to tell them that."

"Maybe she doesn't just want to tell them, she wants to show them."

"Yes, I'll roll up on my team owners like Christopher Reeves. That'll sure show them how ready to play _basketball _I am." Nathan replied sarcastically as Clay parked the car in the huge parking lot of his old teams training facility.

Clay chuckled as he turned off the car. He shook his head as he responded to him. "You know, you're giving that wheelchair way too much credit."

Before Nathan had a chance to reply, Clay's phone started to go off in his pocket. He fished it out and glanced at the name on his screen before answering it. "Hey, we just parked. Are you here? ... Alright we'll meet you in front."

"Haley?" Nathan asked when he pulled the phone away from his ear.

"Yeah," Clay nodded. "I'll get your chair."

Nathan sighed as he watched Clay jump out of his SUV and run to the back to pull his wheelchair out. In all truth, he was scared as hell. You know that expression you don't know what you got until it's gone? Well, it's not true. He always knew and cherished what he had, that's why it hurt so much to lose it. That's why it hurts so much for anyone to lose it. People really don't give themselves enough credit, sometimes bad things just happen to good people. And now here he was, an hour away from either losing or gaining everything he ever worked for. Did he deserve it? No.

But here he was anyways.

One thing people do fail to notice, though, is what happens after everything's gone. Nathan had to remind himself not to do that every day. He wanted to appreciate Clay and Haley, despite how frustrating they were. Clay had gone through leaps and bounds for months to keep Nathan together, although most attempts were failures. He was still here; he was in the trunk right now getting his wheel chair; that had to count for something. Clay did something else Nathan would never be able to thank him enough for, he got him Haley.

It had only been three weeks since she'd started working with him, but she had already gotten him farther than anyone else could of. She was also by far the most patient person he had ever met in his life; she never lost her temper with him or put him down. She could just make him feel comfortable, and not to mention she was absolutely gorgeous. Not that she would ever talk about her personal life with him; every time he tried she swiftly shut him down. No, she wouldn't be an easy one, but she was the only person Nathan really liked right now so he was picking his battles.

He was jolted out of thought when Clay tapped on his window. When he turned to face him he pointed his finger down to the lock, showing it was down. Nathan quickly unlocked the door and opened it, letting Clay help him into his chair.

* * *

"Are you feeling ok?" Haley asked cautiously. She knew he wasn't a fan of that question - any questions really, but she was sincerely curious. In all honesty, she knew he was nervous as hell-she could feel it, but she decided awhile ago that she wouldn't make up Nathan's feelings for him and assume the bad like most people did. He had his cold moments just like anyone else did, but Haley couldn't bear to see the scum some people made him out to be. He was always open and honest with her and she figured she owed him the same respect.

Nathan focused his gaze on the red and blue carpet in the over-sized waiting room as he considered her question. Was he feeling ok? He wasn't really sure. Part of him was completely pissed off at the almighty Smiter and his sick jokes. He was sick of this fucking wheelchair and he was sick of being nobody, and a has-been.

Then there is another part of him that simply doesn't have the energy to tear himself up anymore, and with the right people around him he didn't see much of a reason either. He smiled at the blonde who had managed to lean closer to him despite the distance his wheelchair created with the normal one she was in. "Yeah, I'm alright."

Haley gave him a shy smile and turned back forward. He could tell she was biting her tongue, as though she was reading him and already knew the answers to her questions, and had something to say when he wasn't honest. Nathan immediately felt an unfamiliar guilt wash over him; he wasn't sure why, but he felt bad he didn't open up when he got his opportunity, and maybe even a little silly. He took a glance around to make sure Clay wasn't coming back from the bathroom yet, before focusing his attention on her. "I'm a little scared." He answered again.

Haley looked up and gave Nathan a genuine smile when she saw him shrug his shoulders. "What are you scared of?"

"I'm not sure." He replied honestly.

"Well, there's nothing to be scared of."

Nathan threw a smile her way, but quickly recovered when he saw a body plop down in the seat next to her.

Clay loosened his tie as he took his seat next to Haley. "I can't believe I have to wear one of these things."

"I can't believe you even got him in a suit." Nathan mumbled. He was actually a little annoyed with Clay on that matter, he had tried for years to get him to dress like a somewhat professional and never got anywhere. Haley had it done in a day.

"He thinks I lose him a cool 2 million every time I walk into a meeting with jeans on." Clay informed Haley in a not-so-whisper.

"You do." Nathan stated back. "God, how long are they going to make us wait?" He grunted as he adjusted himself in his chair.

"Go away," Haley whispered as she leaned over to Clay. "You're aggravating him."

Clay rolled his eyes as he uncrossed his legs and got up from his seat. Nathan watched him until he approached the receptionist on the other side of the room and leaned over to talk to her; he figured he was using his Clay charm to get things going quicker and for that much he was thankful.

"So, what's going on with you and Clay?"

Nathan raised an eyebrow as he turned to her. "I was about to ask you the same question."

Haley smiled softly as she ran her tiny fingers through her short blonde locks. "There's really nothing to tell, Nate."

Nathan let out a sigh as he peaked over to Clay, who was still talking the receptionist, before giving his undivided attention to Haley. "I don't buy it, but I'll let it go. You gotta give me something to work with here though, Hales. I feel like you're a stranger and I don't want to feel that way, I want to trust you."

Haley opened her mouth to reply, but closed it just as quickly, before she started to stumble on her words. She hadn't realized that Nathan didn't trust her, or that that he didn't know anything about her might actually affect him. She knew he wasn't like most, Nathan connected with people, or at least he always attempted too.

He was reserved and quiet, yes, but if you caught him at the right moment, you would never find a better person to have a conversation with. You'll never find someone who will try harder to understand your point of view or feelings, but you had to let him in for all that and when you don't it scares him, because if he doesn't have some inkling of how you feel then he doesn't know how to act around you, or worse, he doesn't know how you're going to act around him.

The fact that Haley was making him feel that uncomfortable wasn't resonating well with her. She didn't want to be that person, she wanted to help him, but that's not what she was doing. She was pushing him away like everyone else and if she wasn't careful he was going to do what he did with everyone else, and push back.

"Dr. James, they're ready for you."

Haley was brought out of her thought by the petite brunette receptionist, with a doting Clay planted firmly behind her. She glanced over at Nathan who was giving the hideous carpet in this place the death-stare and she contemplated for a second if that fact he was looking at it so harshly really did make it seem uglier than it was. She glanced at the receptionist who was staring at her as though she had said more and Haley had ignored it, but Haley brushed off the eye roll and stood behind Nathan, pushing him along with her.

* * *

197.

That's how many lines were in the huge, round, wooden table everyone was currently sitting at. And Nathan would know; that was the 12th time he had counted them. It had been two hours since this God-awful meeting had started and about an hour and forty-five minutes since Nathan had completely checked out. He was still absolutely positive that his being here was completely ridiculous, and by the single glance they had given him since this nonsense had begun, he was sure they felt the same.

He looked at the men opposite of him. His friends, colleagues, and coaches; well, that's what they used to be. Now, all they were, were opposite of him. He then glanced at Haley, to his right who was currently rambling at a mile a minute, fighting their every word, battling for his dream. He could see the frustration on her features, as though she felt she had to scream to get through the thick headed people across from her.

They were faltering, he could tell. They needed him. This team needed him, this organization, these fans, his teammates; they all needed their leader. Haley knew that, Clay knew that, hell, even Nathan knew that. These numb skulls had to know it as well.

"Clay, I would like your opinion."

Clay raised an eyebrow at Bobby Irons from the enemy's side of the table. "On?" He glanced at Haley whose frustrated features were in full view now.

"Well, we heard from the doctor enough, he can be healthy enough to play. I want an agent's perspective, you know the game. Is Nathan worth the risk? Is it worth it to pay 10 million dollars for a three year contract with a player that's currently in a wheelchair? Does that make sense to you?" Bobby asked as he stood from his chair. "Because, I can sign a fresh rookie, that's healthy and young for 3 years with 7 million dollars."

Clay lowered his glare to his former friend and shook his head slightly. "Nathan Scott is the face of this organization, the heart of it. The fans love him; he's a good man, and an amazing ball player, who will be completely healthy by season. I think he is more than worth the risk."

"Nathan?" Bobby inquired.

"What?"

"Well, you wanted to be here, what are your thoughts on the matter?"

"It's ok, Nathan, don't answer him." Haley interrupted, standing as well. She had had absolutely enough of this crap. She was frustrated, annoyed, and hungry. This was a very bad mix and she knew that her simple facts weren't going to get through to these sharks, it would take much more. It would get done, she would make sure of it, but this torture of sitting here and making Nathan sit here was unnecessary and Haley wasn't going to stand for it. "Mr. Irons,"

"Dr. James," Bobby interrupted.

Haley glanced at him again before closing the file in front of her and handing it to Clay in the chair next to her. "Let's go." She stated, walking towards the door of the office.

Nathan and Clay glanced at each other briefly before quickly following behind her.

"So, you're just going to leave?" Bobby asked as her hand reached the door knob.

Haley tightened her grip on her purse as she spun on her heels to face him. She paced back over to him until she was right in his face. "One day, Mr. Irons, you're going to face God, and he's going to inquire why someone with so much heart and passion didn't take the court. You better hope that '3 million dollars' is a sufficient answer." She looked him up and down in disgust before turning and heading back out the door with Nathan and Clay in a close tow.

"Dr. James… Nathan! Wait up!" They elevator doors stopped closing seconds later when a hand flew in between the two doors. Haley couldn't hide the surprised look on her face as Nathan's coach, Vinnie, walked into the elevator.

"Save it, coach." Nathan halted as soon as the elevator doors closed.

"Seriously, Vinnie, after everything it's going to go down like this?" Clay asked.

"No," He shook his head furiously. He took a knee next to Nathan's chair, hoping the levelness of them would help prevent his walls from flying up. "Nathan, I'm sorry. I know how hard this must be."

Nathan scoffed and turned his head away from him.

"Ok, I don't." Vinnie shrugged. "But this is your team, it's not over yet." His sentence ending seemed to trigger the elevator doors behind him, because they opened immediately and he stood. He turned to Haley and handed her his card, "Call me." He stated simply before bolting out of the elevator.

Haley shoved the card in her purse and glanced down at Nathan, and then up to Clay. "Let's go get some food."

* * *

"There you are."

Nathan looked up from the water to see a smiling Haley poking her head through his kitchen window. She quickly disappeared and moments later the back door opened, and she was back to smiling at him. Nathan took the time to look her up and down as soon as he got his opportunity; she was different. Her short blonde hair was curly, and free, but she still looked as elegant as she always did. The bright sun was glowing off of her tan legs, which were looking perfect in the brown shorts she was in, and her flowery tank top was clinging to her tiny body wonderfully. She was definitely not dressed like he was used to, she looked much more casual and relaxed; and if it was possible, that only seemed to make her more beautiful to him.

"Nathan, stop drooling."

Nathan let out a chuckle before rubbing his lips together. "You look good."

Haley rolled her eyes. "It's my day off. I have a no make-up rule on my day off." She kicked off her sandals and walked over to the edge of the pool, dipping a toe in to test the water.

"I was serious." He watched her actions and smiled. "You really think my pool isn't heated?"

She smiled at him as she sat on the edge of the pool, letting her legs dangle in the warm water. Nathan watched as she nodded her head lightly and her big sun glasses landed perfectly over her eyes from the top of her head.

"Get in."

Haley smiled as she leaned back on her palms, letting the sun soak her in. "No bathing suit."

The sun wasn't the only thing soaking her in.

Nathan swallowed the heavy lump in his throat that the site before him had formed. She was like some sort of glowing angel, with absolutely no clue how much she lit up everything around her. He gave a mischievous smile as he wrapped his hand around her ankle. "So?"

Haley's head shot up and she immediately picked her glasses up from her eyes, giving Nathan the sternest look she could muster. "Don't. You. Dare."

Damn. There was no way anyone could look sexier than Haley in that exact moment. Nathan raised an eyebrow as he tugged on her leg lightly.

Haley let out a light squeal as she tried to quickly retract her leg and stand, but Nathan lunged forward, grabbing on to her arm, effectively tossing her behind him and sending her crashing into the water.

Almost immediately, Haley seemed to shoot out of the water, tossing her hair back and running her hands over her eyes. "Oh my god, you jerk!"

Nathan's laughter only turned into a roar after that, his tall figure leaning over in the water in an attempt to calm his self as he clutched his gut. His laughter was cut short when he felt a huge wave of water smack his face, and he shook his head menacingly as he wiped the water from his eyes. "You're going to pay for that." He stated firmly when he finally looked to her.

"Please," She teased as she started to swim backwards, "You can't even walk."

Nathan's eyes grew wide after that, and Haley could almost psychically see his competitive side take over his body as he started to walk slowly towards her. And that's when she did it… she winked at him. You know that sexy comment from before? He lied, because that was definitely the sexiest thing Nathan had ever witnessed… and not just from Dr. Haley James… just ever.

He let out the heavy breath that had seemed to tighten every muscle in his body right down to his bulge, and that's when she caught his eye. He watched as she approached the other side of the pool and slowly started to lift herself from the water. Nathan seemed to take off like a bat out of hell after that, catching her before her knee could even touch the cement edge of the pool. He wrapped his arm around her waist, exciting a loud giggle from Haley as he pulled her back against his front and plunged them both into the water.

Nathan tried to keep a firm grip onto her, but the wiggling she was doing was making it impossible and he soon felt his regret of not letting go sooner when he felt her foot dig sharply into his thigh. His hands quickly retracted from her as he held his own leg and his head popped up from the water. "Geeze, Hales!"

Haley's head quickly popped up as well and she spun around to find him. "Crap, I'm sorry, are you okay?" She asked as she started to swim over to him.

"Yeah, I'm-"Nathan stopped his sentence when he looked up to her and saw her beautiful, wide eyes, staring at him as though she had seen a ghost. "What's wrong?" He asked, almost panicked, as he looked around.

"Oh, my god!" Haley squealed, jumping up and down in the water.

"Haley! What!?" Nathan asked frantically as he moved closer to her.

"Nathan! You have feeling in your legs!" She nearly screamed it, and Nathan considered for a second if the neighbors could hear, but all thought soon wiped away from his head when she leaped onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He wasn't sure how long he waited until he hugged her back, but he hoped it wasn't as long as it felt, because the last thing he wanted her to think was that he didn't want her hugging him. He sighed happily as he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her out of the water a little. "Thanks, Hales."

Bad choice of words.

He frowned when she pulled away from him to look into his eyes. "I didn't do anything."

That brought his smile back, and he softly ran his thumb along her cheek bone. "That's what you think."

Haley subconsciously bit down on her lip as she leaned into his touch, but she only let the feeling last a few seconds before she did what she always did – started to pull away. "This is perfect," She stated with a smile as she worked her way back to the edge of the pool, "because I brought a cane for you today."

* * *

Holy cow I made you guys wait forever, sorry, much love. Hope you enjoy and life's being good to you all.


	6. Chapter 6

Dang you guys, I'm sorry. No excuses, just been a workaholic. My boss basically hinted that I'm up for a promotion, so it's been all sleep and work. I have two days off in a row though (hell yeah) so I knocked out chapter 6 for you. This story, and my other, are still very much being written I promise. The updates will be more frequent when things start chilling out more, just so you guys know. Enjoy (:

* * *

Female rappers.

That right there is something Nathan was never a fan of. Not that they weren't talented, he would never argue that someone who made millions doing their job were bad at it. He just didn't see this so-called talent. The whole concept just gave him a headache and made him want to put on D12.

That was until about 45 seconds ago when Red Light Special came on Haley's phone, which was now connected to her Cayman's awesome radio system. As soon as the song came on she let out a tiny squeal, as though she had waited for hours to hear it. Now, she was sit-dancing in her driver seat and graciously singing along to what he deemed as her favorite song. He considered turning the radio off so that he could just hear her, but he figured that would make her stop. He wanted to enjoy this for as long as possible.

Today really had been a tough one. Haley had shown up earlier than usual, obviously distracted by other things. He was extremely tired and, needless to say, they had bickered for hours. After getting some of his errands done, they had gone to the hospital to work on his rehab. Rehab that he was growing more and more impatient with each day.

He was running out of the energy, and the patience. Why did it have to be so difficult? He spent 28 years walking around, and all of a sudden it seemed impossible. It was something he couldn't grasp. Sometimes he would get so close; a few steps seemed easy, but it didn't take long for the pressure to become too much. His legs would shake and he would need some sort of support, like the cane Haley had recently bought him.

A smile graced his face again.

Haley.

That girl really was something else. Although they had bickered all day, and he was exhausted, there was no other way he would have wanted to spend a day. She was funny, and witty, and she didn't give two shits what he thought. It was refreshing; something he could get used too.

He looked away from her dancing figure, a smile glued to his face. He felt his heart stop at about the same second he realized they were about to go through a red light, though. "HALES-" But when he turned back to see that beautiful face, all he saw were headlights. And the hit definitely didn't come from Haley slamming on the brakes.

Nathan clutched his neck as he attempted to even out his breathing. As he slowly opened his eyes, the street lights glare started to falter and he felt his body's pain spike. He groaned as he tried to stretch his neck and felt the seatbelt meant to protect pierce his neck. He took a breath, reminding himself he could. Slowly, he focused on making his hands move; he still wasn't sure if they were stuck in something. His actions were cautious; after being disabled he just wanted to make sure he wasn't back at square one.

That's when it hit him, even harder than the car before.

Square one.

Disabled.

Haley.

He snapped his head over to her figure and immediately felt the weight on his stomach. The pain, the worry. There she was, his beautiful Doctor, passed out with her head against the steering wheel. The shock in his veins turned cold when he saw a drop of blood run down her face.

"HALEY!" He screamed, shaking her shoulder lightly. He bit his lip as he felt the tears start to roll down his cheeks. _This couldn't be happening._ _Not her._ All he felt were the chills shoot up his spine.

_This could NOT be happening._

"Haley! You better start talking to me!" He grunted as he tried to un-jam his seat belt, growing increasingly frustrated as he yanked on it harder. It didn't even seem to budge. "FUCK! HALEY PLEASE!" He could feel the hot tear stains on his face as he gazed back up at her limp figure. He took a deep breath, before reaching down and yanking on his seat belt with anything left in him he could find. The seat belt snapped immediately and Nathan jumped from the car as quickly as he could and ran to her driver door.

"Hey man, I called an ambulance!"

Nathan didn't put forth an effort to register the stranger's words as he pulled on her now jammed door. The stupid fucking piece of shit wouldn't budge. "Don't worry, Haley. I'll get you out of there." Nathan spoke, mostly to himself, as he went back around to his passenger seat. He was sure he looked crazy to the people around him, but that was the least of his worries. This wasn't crazy; they were going to see crazy if he didn't get Haley out of this car safely.

Nathan's moves didn't slow down as he jumped in the passenger seat and undid her seat belt. It was almost as if realty hit him when he finally slowed down, only to lift her head from the wheel of the car. He tried to ignore the blinding thoughts in his head as her head fell back against the seat aimlessly. Carefully, he unhooked the seat belt from her left arm and let it slide back into its place. He took a deep breath as he turned his head back to her, running a shaky finger down her cheek. "Please Hales; I need you to be ok." He muttered as his finger fell from her chin. He wiped one of the many falling tears away and turned her back to him as much as he could manage without hurting her legs.

He clenched his eyes shut as the back of her head fell against his shoulder and he hooked his arms under her shoulders. It wasn't until he saw the blood on his sleeve that he noticed her entire left side was bleeding from the impact of her door. Nathan seemed to go back into hyper-drive after that, pulling her from the car effortlessly until they both hit the pavement a little ways away.

He jumped up just as quickly as he hit the ground and towered over her on his knees. He tried to control himself, to think logically. He could literally feel his mind leaving him; he was going to lose it. There she was, the girl of his dreams, lying under him lifeless in the street. He let the tears fall when he felt the rain hit his face; he could careless anymore. He fell over her and rested his forehead against hers, holding her cheek in his shaking hand. "I need you." He pleaded.

Nathan hadn't heard the ambulance or seen the doctors until they were prying him away from Haley. He fell back against the wet cement as he watched them pick her up and rush her into the ambulance. He felt himself grow cold at the thought of her being there alone. "Wait! I'm coming!"

The man held his palm out to the wet man's chest to keep him from entering the ambulance. "Relation?"

"She's my wife." He muttered as he stared at her body from the spot he was rooted in. They were already putting some sort of needle in her arm and he was finding it hard to think straight.

The nurse didn't need to hear Nathan's words after seeing the devastation on his face as he looked over the woman. He moved his arm and immediately let Nathan jump into the back.

* * *

Thirty minutes.

That's how early Haley was this morning. He was a complete ass over thirty minutes? Right now, he would give his right arm to see the smile she had on her face when she walked into his house, even though it only lasted about fifteen seconds. He had immediately groaned, even though he was awake and mostly ready. It didn't make sense to him now, why had he been such a prick all day? From the second he had seen her he had put her down. And for what? Disrupting his thirty minutes of alone time he would have spent thinking about her?

God he was such an ass.

Nathan took a deep breath as he ran his fingers through his hair before pulling on it. He was pissed, simple as that. He was pissed at himself, he was pissed at the other driver, and he was pissed at the red light. Hell, he was fucking pissed at TLC. All he was seeing was red; he had no idea what to do. He didn't know what he was feeling, or how to control it.

He couldn't control it.

Everything was out of his control. Nathan was starting to realize what hopeless really was. He thought he was hopeless when he couldn't walk, or play ball. He couldn't have been more wrong.

The most important girl in your world in some hospital room in the middle of surgery and he has no idea what's going on? The uncontrollable shaking he was doing because he wasn't sure if he'd ever see her again?

This was hopeless.

"Nathan?"

Clay's jaw clenched at Nathan's stature. He was hunched down with his head between his knees against some random wall in the reception area of the emergency room, tears pouring from his eyes, and his thoughts far away from here. Clay swallowed the lump in his throat when he glanced at him, _this couldn't be good._

"Nathan? Is she okay? Are you okay?" Nathan nodded and slowly stood from the wall. "She's okay, right?" He asked, and Nathan flinched when his voice caught in his throat. Nathan started to make his way over to him as he shook his head, his voice free of confidence. "I… I don't know. They took her back to surgery the second we got here."

When Clay glanced at him, Nathan had to look away. He couldn't handle the heartbroken look in his eyes, or have Clay possibly seeing the same look reflecting in his own. He had to be strong for Clay; especially after all he had been through for him.

"What happened?" Clay asked after a second of silence. He had so many questions, he couldn't even figure out which one to ask first.

"Let's sit down." Nathan motioned to chairs near them and Clay immediately followed. He didn't care much about the circumstances at the moment; he just wanted to know why the hell his sister was in surgery right now.

"We got T-boned…" Clay immediately snapped his head to Nathan who was staring at the floor, wringing his hands together. "I… I don't know. One second we were fine and she was singing and smiling… and then I saw the red light… and it was too late." Nathan looked up finally, his cheeks were swollen and red and his voice was weak. "I'm so sorry, Clay… I wish I could have stopped it. I wish it was me in there."

Clay eyes were closed, and he was taking deep breaths. If Nathan didn't know Clay better, he would have thought he was just ignoring him. That wasn't what Clay was doing. Right now, he was just trying to keep it together… his sanity, his anger, his sadness; Nathan wasn't sure which. Whatever it was, he was doing a hell of a lot better than Nathan at this point.

Clay was trying to wake up. He was taking deep breaths, hoping and praying that when he opened his eyes that he would shoot up in his bed in a cold sweat like every other night. This couldn't be happening. She was the only person he had left, and he had just got her back. He couldn't lose his sister, not again. How could he have let this happen? He was supposed to protect her and be there for her. He let out a soft sigh; who was he kidding? He was an ass. He had abandoned her a long time ago, and spent just about as long regretting it. She deserved so much more from life than she got, but instead she's in surgery fighting for her life. And where was the asshole that had let her down for years? In perfect health, sitting and waiting; doing nothing, because at this point, that was probably for the best.

Clay wiped his tears as he stood from his seat. "I'm going to go see if they have any new information."

"Excuse me?" The soft eyed nurse glanced up at Clay and sent him a welcomed smile. "How may I help you?"

"My name's Clay James, my sister was brought in from an accident and now she's in surgery. I was wondering if you could tell me how she's doing." Clay tried to smile, but he was sure it didn't reach his eyes since it barely met his lips. The nurse nodded and typed something into her a computer. After a little silence the nurse finally spoke up, "Well, it looks like they got her into surgery in time, but she's not out yet. Let me see if I can find a doctor for you." She stood from her rolling chair and disappeared down the hallway.

"Thanks." Clay responded as he went back to take a seat next to Nathan. It didn't seem to take more than five minutes for the nurse to return with a doctor on her heels. Clay stood and approached the older man, who also had a welcoming smile on his face. "Mr. James?" Clay nodded and shook his hand.

"I'm Dr. Sohl; I was with your sister when they took her into surgery."

"Is she okay?" Clay immediately asked.

The doctor placed a relaxing hand on his arm. "She has a great chance. She's still in surgery, but we were able to stop the bleeding and get her stable. Her husband sure did save her life though, just about two more minutes being jammed in that car and her ribs would have been shatter-"

"Husband?" Clay interrupted.

The doctor nodded and pointed to the slumped down figure behind Clay. "Mr. Scott."

Clay raised an eyebrow as he turned his body to look at Nathan, who was in a trance with the floor. He shook his head as he turned back to the doctor, "That's not her hus-…wait… he saved her life?" Clay repeated, almost in a whisper.

The doctor nodded as he went through the paperwork in his hands. "The car that struck her door had pierced her ribs, breaking them immediately, causing a severe amount of internal bleeding. If she would have been in that car any longer than she was, the pressure would have been too much for her. With her concussion and being unconscious, any time wasted would have been too long."

Clay was relived, believe it or not. He was still scared as hell, but this could have been a lot worse, so if this was where he had to start the battle, he was ok with it. There was still one thing he was confused about, though. "How did Nathan save her?" Clay asked, not being able to put the puzzle together.

Clay was glancing back at Nathan when he heard the doctor's response, "He was the one that pulled her from the car."

After a few more questions, Clay thanked the doctor, and the doctor promised to return as soon as he got the next update. When Clay turned back to his friend, he noticed that his head was still hanging between his knees and he was rubbing his calves. That's when the light bulb seemed to go off in Clay's head. "Holy shit, you've been walking." He spoke with disbelief in his voice that caused Nathan to give him a confused look. "How are- Since when?"

Nathan glanced back down at his legs for a moment, confused as well. To be honest, it hadn't even dawned on him that he was without his cane for the past couple hours, and all he had done even before that. Really, not one of his actions in the last couple hours had a thought behind it, it was all instinct. Even when he wasn't conscious of it, his body still wasn't going to let some petty leg injury keep him from saving Haley. "Since I didn't have a choice." Nathan answered, finally looking up to him.

Clay took a breath as he felt the chills take over his body. He had never, in twelve years of friendship, heard Nathan speak with so much conviction. And he had definitely never appreciated having Nathan Scott as his friend as much as he did now. "Do you want me to get someone to take a look at your legs?"

Nathan shook his head at his agent. "I have a doctor for that."

Clay sent him a half-smile as he nodded. "I'll go get us some coffee. The doctor said he'll come and talk to us when he's got new information."

"Okay." Nathan responded, his head once again hanging between his legs as he ran his hands through his hair.

"Nathan?" He lifted his head to the soft voice that released his name and literally felt the weight on his heart grow heavier at the sight. It was Quinn. Her eyes were swollen red and her hair was mused from what he guessed was sleep. She was still in her pajamas – a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, with a jacket thrown over it. He had to swallow the lump in his throat at the scared look in her eyes. "I… I woke up to get water and I saw your message." She looked around the waiting room as she moved closer to him, God she really hated hospitals. "Nathan what happened? Is she okay?"

He closed his eyes briefly, pulling his emotions together, before standing and wrapping his arms around the tall, thin woman. She seemed to cling to him hopelessly, and he couldn't help his tears from falling when he felt her own soaking through his shirt. "She will be." He tried to hold the conviction in his voice, but he was sure he faltered. It didn't seem to matter to Quinn though, and he was grateful, because right now he was just as clueless as she was.

* * *

Quinn couldn't help but jump slightly when she felt Nathan's head thump onto her shoulder. She let out a sigh, gathering her patience before turning her head towards him. She's used two fingers to push him in his temple until his head was lifted off her, and then turned her body to the side and let go, watching his head fall. He seemed to snap out of his dreams immediately, seeing as his head flew up and he grabbed on to the chair to stop himself from falling. "Holy crap, what the hell?"

"I'm not a pillow, Nathan."

Nathan scowled at her and stood, walking over to a nearby couch and laying down on it. She smiled and shook her head, before turning her attention back to the boring magazine she had found in the waiting room earlier. They had been here for about 4 hours now, and there hadn't been much word from the doctors, but she was willing to take that over bad news any day. Her patience was running thin, though, and these magazines were doing little to keep her mind from wandering. It was literally making her sick to her stomach; the fact that her best friend was helpless in a hospital and she couldn't do anything about it. This is why she became a doctor, to help people and make them better, but it didn't seem to mean much when you couldn't help the most important people in your life.

"There's nothing you could have done, you shouldn't feel so hopeless."

Quinn glanced over at Clay with an arched eyebrow. "How did you know?"

Clay sighed and glanced up at her. When he realized how slouched he was next to her long figure, he straightened himself out. "Because I feel the same way." He answered honestly.

She was surprised to say the least. The whole time she had been here sitting next to him, he hadn't said a word, but he answered a question so openly, as though she was a close friend of his. _Maybe it's the friend that we have in common, _she told herself. She figured he felt comfort in talking to someone who was probably as worried as he was. Someone who wasn't passed out, that is. It was crazy for her to think that she was sitting next to her best friend's brother, someone she should know well, and she had never met him before. She found herself amazed at their similar dimples and freckles. When he smiled at her, she saw Haley, and it made her calm. She thought she would never see someone smile as warm as Haley, who would have known there was someone walking around with an identical one?

The idea of it all had her so curious. She wanted to know more about him, and them. At first she had judged him; she figured anyone who hadn't talked to their sister for that long had to be an ass. She remembered both of Haley's parents' funerals, there was no brother there. To be honest, she was sure he was an ass, but Haley didn't seem to think so, so she was giving him a chance. Well, trying to at least.

"You guys seem pretty close even though you didn't talk for so long."

Clay sent her a crooked smile and Quinn gave him a questioning look. "What?"

"Who said we didn't talk?"

"Well, Haley said she hadn't seen you for years."

"Not see, but I've always talked to my sister. No matter what I've always needed Haley in my life… she's Haley." He whispered the last part softly, and it caught Quinn's attention immediately. When she turned to him, he was facing away from her, and from the movement of his hands, she figured he was wiping away tears. Slowly, Quinn let her arms wrap around him and hugged him from her chair. Clay grabbed her immediately and it caused her own set of tears to start falling. "She'll be okay, Clay." She promised, rubbing his neck as he held onto her. She took a deep breath, glancing up at the ceiling. Quinn was never much of a religious person, but God she was praying she was right.


End file.
